Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture 2022-2026

Kingdom of Cambodia Nation Religion King 3 Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture 2022-2026 Supported by : Cambodia-Australia Agricultural Value Chain Program (CAVAC) Table of Contents Preface ........................................................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................................... ii Background to this Policy and Strategic Framework ................................................................................................... 1 1. Overview: Gender Outlook in Cambodia ............................................................................................................ 2 2. Gender and agriculture ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Overview ............................................................................................................................................................... 3 Emerging Trends, Opportunities and Risks ........................................................................................................... 4 Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic ............................................................................................................................. 4 Climate Change ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 Mechanisation and digitisation ............................................................................................................................ 6 Migration .............................................................................................................................................................. 6 Women’s visibility, recognition and role in decision-making in agriculture ......................................................... 7 Women in agricultural and fishery collectives ...................................................................................................... 7 Women’s Representation in Agriculture Administrations .................................................................................... 8 Women’s access to agricultural extension services and other training ............................................................... 8 Gender, Financial Services and Debt .................................................................................................................... 9 Gender and Access to Land ................................................................................................................................ 10 Gender and Access to Markets ........................................................................................................................... 10 Gender and Agricultural Sub-sectors .................................................................................................................. 11 3. Achievements in the Implementation of the GMPSFAS, 2016-2020 ................................................................ 15 4. Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture Sector 2022-2026 ............................ 17 5. Monitoring and Evaluation ................................................................................................................................ 18 Annex 1: Assessment of the Achievements in the Implementation of the GMPSFAS, 2016-2020 .......................... 19 Annex 2: Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture Sector Update 2022-2026 ........ 27 Annex 3: References ................................................................................................................................................... 44 MAFF Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture, 2022 – 2026 Abbreviations AC Agriculture Cooperative ADB Asian Development Bank CAVAC Cambodia-Australia Agricultural Value Chain Program CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women CMA Cambodia Microfinance Association DPs Development partners FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation GCWG Gender and Children Working Group GDP Gross Domestic Product GMPSFA Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture MAFF Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MoWA Ministry of Women’s Affairs NGOs Non-government organisations OECD Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development PDAFF Provincial Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries RGC Royal Government of Cambodia UNDP United Nations Development Program UNSDG United Nations Sustainable Development Goals i Preface The Royal Government of Cambodia, under the wise and wise leadership of Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, has made great efforts to fully maintain peace, territorial integrity and political stability by adhering to The principles of the rule of law and democracy. In particular, addressing gender inequality, improving the promotion of gender equality and empowering women, as outlined in the Rectangular Strategy Phase4, National Strategic Development Plan Update 2019-2023 and the Women's Strategic Plan NearyRattanak 2019-2023. Amongst the goals of RGC’s Rectangular Strategy Phase4 (RSIV) for Growth, Employment, Equity and Efficiency: Building the Foundation Toward Realizing the Cambodia Vision 2050 is also with great effort to strengthen gender equality and recognition that Cambodian “women ‘are the backbone of society and economy’. In this context, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) is strongly committed to accelerate the effective implementation of these national commitments and has set out its strategic directions to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Agriculture Sector Strategic Development Plan (ASDP) (2019-2023) as well as development policy in agriculture sector 2021-2030. MAFF has implemented the Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture (GMPSFA) 2016-2020 and is proud of its achievements under this Strategy. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is committed to improving gender equality and women’s economic empowerment through increasing their access to inputs, services, support and access to markets increasing women’s representation and participation in agricultural sector is also essential. Surely this can be achieved through continually strengthening the activities, resources and commitment to gender mainstreaming in the agriculture sector. To support effective implementation of this aim, the Gender and Children Working Group in Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has updated the MAFF Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture Sector for the period 2022 – 2026, referencing the situation of the agriculture sector at present and future in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and digital technology. On the other hand, we also recognize that now Cambodians, both men and women, are facing enormous challenges including the impact of the global crisis caused by the pandemic of Kovid-19 on all sectors of the national economy and the risks of ongoing climate change. Once again, on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, I hope that the the sub sector at all levels under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, development partners and all stakeholders to fully collaborate and implement this Gender mainstreaming policy and strategic framework in Agriculture sector 2022-2026 so as to achieve its vision objectives and expectation set in this policy in order to achieve gender equality and contribute to the development of Cambodia in the current and future with the coordination of the Gender and Children Working Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Fisheries with full responsibility to to the Successful in a highly responsible sense. Phnom Penh, ………………………………………………. Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries ii Acknowledgements On behalf of MAFF, I would like to express our gratitude to H.E Veng Sakhon Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for giving full financial and technical support in the process of updating the MAFF Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture Sector 2022-2026. In developing and implementing this policy and strategic framework, success results were identified from good cooperation across sub-sectors, Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries especially focal points at each province, development partners and non-government organizations (NGOs), implementing projects in partnership with MAFF. These stakeholders are contributing to and supporting the MAFF Gender and Children Working Group (GCWG) to improve gender mainstreaming in the agriculture sector through financial and technical support. This effort is contributing towards fruitfully and effectively reaching the gender equity goal of the MAFF strategy and the RGC. GCWG also would like to express its gratitude to all the management leaders and staff at all levels of MAFF and the development partners and NGOs that have contributed to the update of the MAFF Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture Sector 2022-2026 with the provision of technical inputs and feedback, secondary data and reports. We especially express gratitude to CAVAC for its financial support and the technical contribution from CAVAC Gender Advisors in the process of updating the MAFF Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture Sector 2022-2026. Finally, I would like to express my thanks to all the members of GCWG at national and sub-national levels who have brought their best effort to implementing the previous policy and cooperated and facilitated the process of updating the MAFF Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture Sector 2022-2026. Hor Malin Secretary of State of MAFF and Director, MAFF GCWG 1 Background to this Policy and Strategic Framework The RGC vision for agriculture is to transform the agricultural sector to commercial agriculture through improved productivity and diversification as well as market access. Understanding these dynamic processes of change and emerging trends and its differentiated effects on women and men is crucial to better position the sector for inclusive and faster growth and sustainable development. In this context, a gender perspective is in particular critical to understand the impact of large scale land investments and the shift to large scale commercial agriculture. These shifts often lead to changes in household dynamics and roles, income-generation activities, and land ownership rights. The RGC recognises that both men and women contribute to development outcomes and should equally benefit from development opportunities and gender equality is crucial for agricultural development. MAFF’s vision for Cambodian agriculture is for a modern sector that is competitive, inclusive, resilient to climate change, and sustainable, leading to increasingfarmers' income and enhancing the prosperity and well-being of Cambodian people1. The GCWG was established in 2005 and in 2006 the RGC endorsed the first Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategy in Agriculture sector in 2006. The process of updating this policy comprised a series of internal workshops with 18 members of the GCWG, MAFF officials and 25 provincial gender focal points within MAFF that sought to facilitate reflections on the achievements and challenges in implementing the previous GMPSFA (2016-2020) and identify priorities for the next five years. Significant in this process were the meetings with development partners and relevant stakeholders; consultation and coordination with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) and reviews of the Cambodia legal framework for gender equality in Agriculture, available literature and key government policies. This policy is developed to harmonize with the current strategic plans of the agriculture sector and its sub-sectors. The updated GMPSFA specifies and affirms the commitment of the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) through its Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) with respect to gender equality. The document outlines MAFF’s vision, mission, overall goal, strategic objectives and implementation steps in mainstreaming gender perspectives in all its affiliated departments/institutions and activities of sub-sectors (Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, Livestock and Rubber) of the agriculture sector. This policy and strategic framework provide the basis to enhance the coordination and effectiveness toward greater gender equality in the agricultural sector in Cambodia. This GMPSFA emphasizes coordination, capacity building, leadership and strengthened data and analysis on gender within the agriculture sector as well as economic empowerment for women in rural areas in the current context. The GMPSFA 2020–2026 recognises the significant contribution of Cambodian women to agricultural labour, production, harvesting, processing, marketing and in agri-food supply chains. It identifies specific issues and constraints in these areas and proposes some sector-specific outcomes and target indicators. It recognises women’s participation in crop production, fisheries, livestock and in the management of forest resources, including non-timber products, and recognises the high reliance of rural women in particular on biomass for meeting basic household energy needs. It acknowledges the burdens that women carry in their households and communities, which have been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, this policy recognises that climate change is a cross-cutting issue which affects agriculture, livestock, fisheries and forestry practices, which are not 1 MAFF Agriculture Sector Strategic Development Plan 2019 - 2023 2 gender neutral. Therefore solutions need to ensure both mitigation and adaptation initiatives will produce the desired effects and contribute to achieving gender equality. 1. Overview: Gender Outlook in Cambodia The promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment in all sectors and at all levels is a major priority for the Royal Government of Cambodia. Collaborations, partnerships and support from line ministries and development partners have been contributing to the promotion of gender equality in national policies and in important reform programs including those covering public administration, decentralization and de-concentration, public financial management, and the social protection framework. The status of gender equality in Cambodia has generally improved over the years, however challenges remain. The Global Gender Gap Report 2021 from the World Economic Forum shows that Cambodia ranked 103 overall out of a total of 156 countries and 9 out of 16 developing countries in the East Asia and Pacific region2. Cambodia is ranked ‘medium to low’ equality on the UNDP Gender Development Index3, comparing Human Development Index achievements for women and men4. Cambodia’s 2019 Gender Inequality Index ranking was 117 out of 162 countries5. Within each of these indices, Cambodia performs more strongly on some measures than others. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are not yet reflected in these global index reports. Women’s educational attainment levels are lower than men’s at all levels above primary school. While 15.1 percent of adult women have reached at least a secondary level of education compared to 28.2 percent of their male counterparts6, only 8 percent of women compared with 11 percent of men have completed High School.7 Literacy has improved steadily for both women and men but remains higher for men at 87.2 per cent compared with 77.1 per cent for women in 20198. Women remain under-represented at senior government levels in Cambodia. Female labour force participation for women in Cambodia is 76.3 percent compared to 88.9 for men9; women are more likely to be in vulnerable employment and also more likely to be in the category of unpaid contributing family workers10 including household agriculture11. Cambodia’s gender gap in time spent on unpaid care and domestic work is the highest among ASEAN countries with women spending ten times more time on these activities than their partners12,. This 2 https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF GGGR 2021.pdf 3 Ranked Group 4 out of 5 categories 4 UNDP 2020 5 ibid 6 UNDP, 2020 7 NIS, 2019 8 UN Women and CDRI, 2021 9 UNDP, 2020 10 HRM Asia, 2021 11 Gavalyugova and Cunningham, 2020 12 The next highest in the region was Laos PDR, with women spending four times more time than their partners on unpaid care and domestic work 3 workload results in women being considerably less mobile than their partners, limiting their opportunities in learning, employment and participation in community decision-making. Ending violence against women is a priority of the RGC, and all government institutions, private sector representatives and civil society organizations have joined in the effort to combat this and to provide timely and effective services for survivors . Cambodia’s third national action plan on violence against women was launched in 2021. The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on women and girls in Cambodia, especially in the agriculture sector. Women are overrepresented in sectors hardest hit by COVID-19 disruptions, are doing more unpaid care work, and face increased risks of exploitation, violence and abuse13. There is a risk that hard-won gains on gender equality may be reversed. These threats exist in the face of the ongoing and escalating threats from climate change. For these reasons, it is more important than ever to address the specific needs of women and girls in the agriculture sector and ensure they can participate meaningfully in decision-making during and after the pandemic. 2. Gender and agriculture Overview Cambodia’s agriculture sector continues to play an important role in supporting economic growth, ensuring equality, food security, and promoting development of the rural economy. Agriculture contributed, on average, 29.7 per cent from 2010 to 2019 (a slight drop over the last two decades) to the total GDP. It absorbs more than 4.5 million workers14. The active agricultural population was made up of 52.2 per cent women, and 47.8 per cent men in 201915. The General Population Census Cambodia 2019 shows that, of the total of 4,224,172 women considered as employed, 56.5 per cent were in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors16. Despite both women and men shifting out of agriculture in recent years, the agricultural sector still accounts for 44 percent of female and 39 percent of male employment in Cambodia17. Women and men tend to have distinct patterns of engagement in specific agricultural tasks. For example, NIS found that among rural households, significantly more women than men are involved in raising livestock, while more men than women were engaged in crop cultivation, aquaculture or capture fishing, and in non-agricultural activities; in each case variances were greater in the dry than in the wet season. They also found that more women than men are employed as external workers in livestock raising and more men than women are employed as external workers in crop cultivation18. Women are over-represented among very low-skilled and low- paying roles in agriculture. Unpaid family work involves 68.4 per cent of rural women, much higher than it is for rural men at 28.4 per 13 ILO, 202; and UN Women, 2020 14 UN Women and CDRI, 2021 15 ibid 16 ibid 17 Gavalyugova and Cunningham, 2020 18 NIS, 2019 4 cent19. NIS found that most household member workers are not paid for their work contributing to agricultural holdings20. The hourly earnings gap between women and men in agriculture was 18 percent in 201621. An OECD report found that Cambodian women-initiated production and marketing activities in agriculture are given little recognition and that when women prosper, the husbands often take over the control of the business22. Cambodian women farmers play a crucial role in the translation of agricultural products into food and nutritional security for their households. Women are responsible for food production, care and feeding of children and are the key to food security and nutrition for their households. In 2009, women comprised 51% of the primary workforce in subsistence agriculture in Cambodia23. Women are increasingly involved in commercially-oriented agricultural production value chain. However, agricultural products women produce are often not well matched to market needs. Women in Cambodia are also central in wholesale and retail marketing of agricultural products and in agri-business. They are involved as collectors and/or traders and are the principal retail sellers, working in markets at local, provincial and national levels. In addition, many women own or are active partners in input supply agro-businesses, dealing directly with clients, providing information and knowledge on use of inputs, fertilizers and pesticides. Emerging Trends, Opportunities and Risks This section highlights some of the most significant contextual issues currently impacting on women and men in agriculture that need to be considered and addressed over the next five years. These changes and trends present opportunities but also pose significant challenges and uncertainties in addressing gender issues in the sector. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic The global COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world, including Cambodia, negatively impacting farmers, particularly smallholder farmers including women, with reduced earnings, marketing challenges and higher costs24. Higher living costs have placed a particular strain on women who take the most responsibility for making ends meet in households. The broader economy continues to be seriously impacted, but agriculture has experienced some advantages including increased lending to agriculture and agro-processing creating in momentum towards economic diversification25. 19 UN Women and CDRI, 2021 20 NIS, 2019 21 Gavalyugova and Cunningham, 2020 22 OECD, 2021 23 UNSDG, 2020 24 DFAT, 2021; Sok Piseth et al, 2021 25 DFAT, 2021 5 However, the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced gender inequalities26. The disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on women and girls have been well documented, including increased precarity of employment, exacerbated risks of violence, abuse and exploitation, and greatly increased care workload. Smallholder women farmers already faced limited access to productive resources, services, technologies, markets, and investment capital and in the face of COVID, were more vulnerable to income loss27. The pandemic also heightened women’s vulnerability to climate change. Women in already disadvantaged positions facing climate-related disasters meant negative impacts on shelter, agricultural production, food stocks and seed availability exacerbating existing vulnerabilities28. As the pandemic abates and border restrictions ease, migration may increase, and thus it is likely that the number of rural households managed by women as a result of migration will increase, placing an additional burden on women. The agriculture sector will play a pivotal role in recovery from the pandemic, including in ensuring economic resilience and food security, but it will be critical to ensure that women are an equal and valued part of both the recovery process and the sector going forward. Without concentrated effort, hard-won gains towards gender equality may be reversed. The pandemic and its impacts on women have shone a global light on gender inequality, creating an opportunity for governments and donors to work together to implement existing and new strategies and commitments with urgency needed to keep progress on track. However, in the short term, considerable budget resources have been diverted towards responding to the pandemic and women have continued to lack voice in decision-making related directly or indirectly to the pandemic, and in all arenas of policy and practice. Climate Change Cambodia is ranked 15th globally on the Global Climate Risk Index; both flooding, the deadliest kind of disaster for Cambodians, and droughts are intensifying; the 2016 drought was the worst in decades29. Based on the National Committee for Disaster Management’s analysis, the disaster rate has increased gradually from 1995 to 2019, including a notable spike in the number of disasters in 2013, reaching 1,836 cases that year30. Climate change is thought to be a factor in reducing agricultural outputs over the past decade, due to increased disasters31. Climate change affects women, men and specific vulnerable popluations differently, and their responses to its impacts also differ, including in relation to safeguarding food security and livelihoods and coping with hazards and risks. Women have disproportionately low access to financial resource, land, natural resources, climate change resources and technologies, education and other development services essential for effective adaptation to climate change. The Cambodia’s Women’s Resilience Index found women less resilient in times of disaster than men due 26 Oxfam Cambodia 2020 27 Huot and Jensen, 2022 28 ibid 29 Tanyag and True, 2018 30 UN Women and CDRI 31 ibid 6 to women’s unstable and insecure sources of income, the low accessibility women have to structural protection from natural hazards, limited access to shelters or safe places and early warning information, poor housing and weak social safety nets and networks32. Furthermore, women’s responsibilities in household resources, positions them well to contribute to livelihood strategies adapted to change environmental realities. However, lack of information and access to planning processes, and care obligations, limit their ability to contribute33. Increasing recognition of the urgency of addressing climate change and of the links between gender and climate issues, create potential opportunities to affect change and empower more women to take leadership roles in green agriculture and industry as farmers, entrepreneurs or industry professionals. In this context, MoWA has identified climate change mitigation and green growth as one of its strategic focus for women’s economic empowerment. Mechanisation and digitisation The introduction of technologies and mechanisation to improve productivity is a significant aspect of the push to modernise Cambodian agriculture. However, mechanisation and introduction of new technologies impacts men and women farmers differently. Mechanisation can increase production, reduce women farmers’ workload and facilitate some hard operations. In Cambodia, limited efforts are being made to ensure women have equal access to machinery or training in using new agricultural technologies, particularly machinery. Generally, harvest and post-harvest activities, often carried out by women, are increasingly undertaken with the use of machines, usually operated by men. Mechanisation may have unintended effects in particular on landless and women farm workers. Social biases that associate machinery use with men further limit womens’ use of technological improvements34. Restrictions on movements during the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to a very rapid escalation of digitisation in business practices including in agriculture and agricultural value chains. While women, who are currently still expected to undertake the majority of care and domestic work, stand to potentially benefit from the shift to digitisation as it can allow them to work from home, women face a gender gap in access to such technologies and training for the necessary skill development. Migration Labour migration, while increasing the incomes of many rural households through remittances, also represents a significant threat to the available agricultural workforce. More women (35.7 per cent) than men (32.4 per cent) migrate from rural to urban areas. Almost half of the migrants were between 20 and 39 years of age - both males and females - and 90 per cent were aged 15-64. Rural urban migration is larger than urban-urban. A 2018 ADB gender analysis assessment found that the significant extent of migration mobilisation places more burdens on older women in rural 32 Ibid 33 Tanyag and True, 2018 34 Forthcoming CAVAC study on Gender and Mechanisation 7 communities to look after children and grandchildren and to take care of both unproductive and productive work. 35. Migration has a strong influence on gender roles and division of labour in rural Cambodia. It can have impacts in the level of participation which women have had in agriculture value chains. The key factor contributing to this change is increased migration of young women and men to garment factories, construction work, service industry and others. Poverty, insufficient income from farming activities and debts are key reasons for the decision of rural households to migrate or send family members away to alternative work. Rural households are often made up of only elderly and children or, when men only migrate, of women and children. Outmigration of men can also open new opportunities for women, such as increasingly becoming farm managers, gaining greater control over household resources and improved socio-economic status. Migration can also increase demand and opportunities to create services such as savings markets for remittances, childcare options in villages and the development of a formal agri-business sector for young rural women. Women’s visibility, recognition and role in decision-making in agriculture Despite the importance of the role that women play in farming and agribusiness, their voice and representation at the rural community level is limited36. NIS data showed that for household members aged 15 and older, 61 percent of the females and 63 percent of the males reported participating in decision making, including decisions concerning crops and livestock on the agricultural holding37. However, beyond the household level, women’s voice in decision-making is limited, for example, women farmers rarely attend the Cambodia National Farmers Forum and those who attend rarely speak38. Analysis by UN Women shows that women’s representation in the public realm remains low, that their ideas and concerns tend to be ignored, and that women’s voices in environmental and natural resource management are rarely considered in decision-making processes. The main factors identified that lead to this exclusion were traditional norms and stereotypes, low level of education, illiteracy, higher relative levels of poverty and domestic workload, each in turn limiting women’s access to information, resources and education39. Considerable evidence exists of rural Cambodian women’s drive to participate and lead on community affairs40, despite gender norms not encouraging this. In recent years, women’s contributions in the household and the impact of the household work burden on women is becoming increasingly recognised, offering opportunities for further advocacy and programming to benefit rural women. Promoting women’s voice in decision making remains a priority for MAFF in this GMPSFA. Women in agricultural and fishery collectives Agricultural cooperatives (ACs) and other collectives such as producer groups have been significant in enhancing women’s contribution to, participation in and benefit from activities in agriculture 35 ibid 36 OECD, 2021 37 NIS,2019 38 ibid 39 UN Women and CDRI, 2021 40 Tanyag and True, 2018; Oxfam, 2012 8 value chains. In 2018, there were 1,116 agriculture cooperatives throughout the country with a total of 130,059 share holders, 62 per cent women (MAFF, 2019). At 2018, 516 community fisheries had been created, 475 inland based and 41 marine based, with a total membership of 332,168, of which 35 per cent are women ACs and producer groups receive different kinds of support and interventions from MAFF, development partners (DPs), NGOs and other agriculture development programs. This includes: agriculture skills development, promotion of home gardening for poor households, coordination of joint business activities through contract farming. Interventions to promote gender include promoting the number of women in leadership positions, building the capacity of AC women leaders and supporting development of business plans. Others select ACs to support if they meet their gender criteria, such as being led by women or having a majority of women members. A recent study found that women had increased access to mechanisation through AC membership than as individual farmers41. Women’s Representation in Agriculture Administrations In 2020, MAFF employs approximately 5,850 government officials, of which 24.27% are women. This includes, at central level, 28.21% and in the provinces 20.34% women staff. Across different sub sectors, women are 23.55% of staff working in forestry, 29.83% in livestock, 31.25% in Rubber and 23.17% of staff in fisheries. Women comprise 35.24% of agricultural extension services officers. The representation of women in decision-making positions at MAFF has been historically low for all sub sectors. Women’s access to agricultural extension services and other training Agricultural extension services refer to the range of information, advice, training and knowledge related to agriculture, fisheries or livestock production, processing and marketing. Agricultural extension services occur within a specific socio-cultural context, and the availability and efficacy of these services are strongly influenced by the social conditions and socio-political dynamics that shape gender relations. Gender disparities in access to agricultural extension and support services in Cambodia have been a long-term challenge. Despite government efforts to scale up extension services for men and women, extension services in Cambodia are still predominantly staffed by men, who tend to focus service delivery on male farmers. However, this has improved over recent years. In 2018, there were a total of 1,220 commune agricultural extension agents, 41 per cent women, and 9,276 village agricultural extension agents, 9 per cent women. In the same year, of 21, 627 provicial, district, communal, and village agricultural extension staff, agents and farmers provided with training, 31 per cent were women42. Separately, in the field of animal health and animal production, technical extension services, care and protection related to animal husbandry, the Ministry also has 9,262 village animal health agents in the villages, of which 722 women cooperate with other specialists in the provinces. The constraints affecting rural Cambodian women's ability to have adequate access to agricultural extension services include distance to the point of service provision, insensitivity to the level of literacy, time, lack of childcare options, household responsibilities, mobility and socio-cultural 41 Forthcoming study by CAVAC on gender and mechanisation 42 MAFF, 2019 9 characteristics. Men, traditionally regarded as the head of the household, are often automatically the recipient of new information. Gender, Financial Services and Debt Access to credit is essential to profitability for women and men in agriculture whether as farmers or as entrepreneurs (eg farmers engaging in value-add with their produce or other businesses in agricultural value chains). In general, women have access to credit from microfinance institutions (MFI) and other informal sources. Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA) reports that 80 per cent of MFIs’ clients are women43. However, these MFIs’ loan size is smaller and their interest rate is higher than commercial banks’. Still many women and some men at medium and lower socio economic status approach microfinance institutions (MFI) as they have branch offices in commune level, and their loan requirements and procedures are simple. A recent IFC study revealed that 90 percent of SMEs managed by women in Cambodia were profitable in the previous year, but only three percent of the nation’s women entrepreneurs have access to formal credit. Greater access to financial services for women can contribute in many ways to economic empowerment. Through savings, credit, and insurance facilities and financial literacy activities women can improve their own economic activities, create and protect assets, enter markets, diversify their economic activities and increase their economic independence. Despite the considerable potential of rural financial services in Cambodia for women farmers, there is still a long way to go before women have equal access to these services or fully benefit from them. Achieving both of these goals does not depend only on expanding financial services, but also on the specific types of financial services that are delivered in different contexts to women farmers from different backgrounds and by different types of institutions or programs. Women farmers often tend to purchase agriculture inputs and equipment in credit (seed, pesticide, Chemical fertilizer, water pump), which are then calculated in monetary value, putting them in debt to the suppliers. They pay off their debts during harvest time, or as soon as they have sold their agriculture products. A low yield or crop damage caused by natural shock, however, can push women and in particular female headed-households harder into a critical situation in terms of loan repayment and food shortage. The problem of such debt relationship with input suppliers can impact women’s ability to have access to better sale price or market via mechanisms such as collective Agricultural Cooperative/community actions/contract farming. Cambodia has acknowledged the importance of financial inclusion of women. The country has called on all financial institutions to better target clients for financial support, especially focusing on women who are heads of households. Despite these efforts, financial inclusion of women remains a problem in Cambodia as compared to some countries in Southeast Asia44. In fact only three percent of the Cambodian women entrepreneurs have access to formal credit. The unmet demand for credit from women entrepreneurs is estimated at $4.2 billion. Most women in the country use their own resources to start a business or rely on informal sources and savings to expand their businesses. They have no other choice, as women are underserved by banks45. 43 CMA, 2021 44 Women’s World Banking, 2015 45 Exploring the Opportunities for Women-owned SMEs in Cambodia, 2021, page 6 10 Gender and Access to Land The proportion of male-headed agricultural households with access to agricultural land is higher than the female-headed agricultural households. The Cambodia Socio Economic Survey, 2019 – 2020, shows that approximately 12 percent (448 thousand hectares) of the total 33,819 thousand hectares of agricultural land in Cambodia was owned by women headed households. Another difference between access to land for male and female headed households in Cambodia is number of plots of land owned. National statistics indicates that 49% of female-headed households have only one plot, while more than 61% of male-headed households have more than one plot46. 85% of the total agricultural households in Cambodia have access to agricultural land, with an average area of agricultural land per agricultural household of 1.4 hectares. Men account for 1.4 million or 73% of all holders while women holders stand for 0.5 million or 27% (with a ratio of 268 male holders for every 100 female holders)47. Out of the total agricultural population, only 30.2% of women compared with 34.1% of men own or hold secure rights over agricultural land, while women represent 51% of owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land 48. Of about 2 million hectares of agricultural land used in wet season, 273 thousand hectares was used by women-headed households and 1,682 thousand hectares used by men-headed households. In the dry season, the share of agricultural land used is much smaller at 36 thousand hectares used by women-headed households and 336 thousand hectares for men-headed households. The second most common type of land (except from wet and dry season land) is kitchen garden with 442 thousand hectares, for both household heads (women and men)49. Gender-based constraints to land registration comprise problems accessing information about the land titling process, difficulties for female headed household to obtain paperwork that prove their single status and gender imbalance in control and decision making. Nonetheless, despite barriers to land ownershop, women make effective and productive use of agricultural land owned by men. Gender and Access to Markets In recent years, improvements in transport infrastructure, adoption of value chain approach by different stakeholders as well as prevalent use of mobile phones and other digital technologies have facilitated easier access to markets, pricing and reduced marketing costs for women and men farmers. The value chain approach strengthens business linkages between producer groups, service providers, and other actors, such as processors and importers, rather than focusing exclusively on farm interventions. Contract farming, through which large scale agro-processing companies or traders seek to ensure a steady supply of quality produce, has increased as one aspect of modernizing agricultural value chains in Cambodia. Such schemes can help small-scale farmers and livestock producers and Agricultural Cooperatives, fisheries communities’ accessibility to farm inputs, ensuring the more 46 Cambodia Inter-Censal Agriculture Survey 2018 47 Cambodia Inter-Censal Agriculture Survey 2018 48 FAO Rural Livelihood Information System data, 2009, courtesy of FAO 49 NIS, 2020, page 39 11 stable prices for produce, and ultimately generating higher incomes. In addition, it contributes in overcoming the technical barriers and transaction costs involved in meeting the increasingly strict of local and international markets demands. However, evidence shows that women tend to be excluded from contract farming schemes50. Gender differences impact on the full range of activities making up value chains. A gender approach to value chain analysis makes it possible to consider the access to productive activities of men and women individually and in groups, differential gender-based opportunities for upgrading within the chain, the gender-based division of activities in a given value chain, and how gender power relations affect economic rents among actors throughout the chain. Cambodian women farmers increasingly supply local markets with traditional and high-value produce, but compared to men, women still face a number of disadvantages, including lower mobility, lower level of literacy, less access to training, less access to market information, and less access to productive resources. Lower financial literacy of women than men and travel safety are identified as main gender gaps in Cambodia to access to markets for women. As export opportunities in agriculture and agri-processing continue to increase, men are better placed to benefit due to having greater access to market information and networks, enabling them to better understand and work within the system. Evidence also suggests that men may take over production and marketing when it becomes financially lucrative to do so51. To market their produce, women farmers in Cambodia need timely, reliable and accessible market information. Loan finance and credit are also essential so that women smallholder farmers can pay for inputs, improve farming, and develop small business enterprises to empower themselves economically and support their families. Collective action, such as through ACs or producer groups, can play a significant role for women stallholder farmers to increase productivity and access to markets. Furthermore, initiatives to facilitate access to market need to take into account and address the gender specific constraints on women smallholder farmers and agro-business entrepreneurs. Hence, strengthening their access to markets requires targeted value chain analysis and interventions. Gender and Agricultural Sub-sectors Gender and Crop Production For crop production, women manage many functions as small-scale farmers, small-scale collectors, retailers, and wholesalers in crop value chains. With support from NGOs and DPs, women have participated in a number of programs at both national and sub-national levels in crop production, particularly in the three main crops of rice, horticulture and agro-industrial crops. Activities have included improving technologies, practical demonstrations with modern seed to increase yields, and in monitoring rice seed for quality. For the horticulture crops such vegetable, fruit and ornamental plants, women have participated to promote specialist women farmers/women enterprises with activities in purifying seed, conservation and production. In industrial crops women have joined with activities such as producing and propagating seeds of crops such as soybean, mung bean, cassava, maize, pepper and cashew. A specific activity is the Women Farmers Champion project which aims to eliminate negative attitudes about the roles women play in agriculture and to allow women 50 Unpublished literature review on contract farming by CAVAC, 2020 51 Forthcoming study on gender and agricultural mechanisation, CAVAC 12 farmers to communicate, discuss, and exchange about their farming skills and difficulties. This network of 521 women members has assisted women farmers to share good practicing with each other online and facilitate finding solutions to difficulties in the agriculture sector. The Women Farmer Champions Book highlights the stories of 100 women farmers, showing their roles and participation in agriculture. Gender and Forestry Forestry activities in Cambodia are typically gender-differentiated: while men tend to be more involved in timber forest products for commercial purposes, women are more inclined to Non timber forest (NTFP) products (wild leaves, rattan, roots, bamboo, medicinal plants, seeds, nuts, and mushrooms) for subsistence, such as for food, and for income-generation (ref). Women often have highly specialized knowledge of wild leaves and forest species and their uses for various purposes, and good understanding of conservation practices. This understanding could offer an excellent opportunity for tapping women’s knowledge and skills to support forest-related climate change mitigation activities which reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, in the future, may deliver an economic dividend or other co-benefits. Women in Cambodia, in particular, play the primary role in financial management, processing and marketing activities of NTFP. In 2016, 142,941 households lived in 580 forestry communities with 470,970 hectares of forest. The 2019 Census52 recorded that women made up 41.4 per cent of those working in forestry, including hunting and logging services, gathering non-timber forest products and supporting other forestry related services. Collecting non-timber forest products accounted for 65.1 per cent of this work, with 45.7 per cent of this workforce being women.53 Based on the Commune Database 2019 it is estimated that a total of 229,094 families, including 521,859 women, participate in Community Forestry, collecting forestry products and hunting for their livelihoods (UN Women and CDRI, 2021). The number of women-headed households who had engaged in forestry and hunting activities in Cambodia is lower than share of men-headed households, at 53 percent and 59 percent respectively.54 The forestry sector is being impacted by changes in forest cover, increasing forest conversion and land-use change, and the impact of climate change on the forestry community and is threatened by sea level rise. (UN Women and CDRI, 2021) Cambodia’s forest cover reduced from 73.04 per cent to 49.48 per cent between 1965 and 2014. This impacts rural communities who rely on forest resources as a safety net or supplementary source of nutrition and medicine particularly in times of crisis, with particular impacts on women. (UN Women and CDRI, 2021) The impacts of deforestation and forest degradation on women and men are distinct, given that women spend more time collecting firewood or forest produce once the forest is destroyed. Women’s access to information and education, and participation in important meetings and decision-making processes, are very limited. Women’s roles in forestry value chain are still limited 52 General Population Census Cambodia 2019 53 UN Women and CDRI, 2021 54 NIS, 2020 13 and generally poorly supported. Women do not have the same or adequate access to new technologies, credit, appropriate trainings, market and decision making as men. Due to social norms and attitudes, forestry and hunting activities are supposed to be men’s business. For example, women are not encouraged to join forestry community committee because it is not appropriate for women to perform their task at night time, and due to concerns for women’s safety. Research suggests that the better inclusion of women and gender-inclusive processes would more successfully address concerns relating to sustainable forestry and environmental management.55 Gender and Rubber Production The rubber production development has seen strong and solid growth in Cambodia, due to the increase in international consumption and price together with the potential of suitable soils and policy and legal frameworks. In Cambodia, rubber plantations can be divided into three categories of ownership: state, household-owned, and private-industrial plantations. Women presently represent 30 per cent of the rubber production workforce, 10 per cent as owners and 20 per cent as workers56. A holistic approach with the introduction of decent rural employment, strengthening of women’s associations and gender sensitive labour right (access to employment, equal wage and equal capacity development) can play a significant part to support women’s economic empowerment in rubber-sub-sector and enhance their active representation and participation. Gender and Livestock Most rural women are involved in raising small livestock such as poultry (chicken and ducks) and pigs, which are an important source of food and supplementary household’s income. For many poor women, livestock acts as a primary form of saving, as well as insurance against accidents, illness, death and natural disasters such as drought. Most animal-source food products are produced by smallholders, many of them women, and sold in traditional open markets. However, value chain interventions have tended to favour men because they control the money from sales. Women are poorly recognised and receive fewer benefits although they do much of the work. The total number of households engaged in raising livestock and poultry was estimated at almost 1,957 thousand (54 percent of all households). Comparing by gender, more male-headed households, 56.8 per cent, than female-headed households, 42.9 per cent, raised livestock and poultry. The most common types of livestock and poultry raised is chickens which accounted for about 57 percent, duck 35 percent and cattle 4 percent. In general, women raise poultry, men do cattle and pigs57. 55 UN Women and CDRI, 2021 56 Annual report, 2020, of Directorate of Rubber Development, MAFF 57 NIS, 2020 14 Gender and Fisheries Fisheries currently contribute 12 per cent to GDP. (UN Women and CDRI) In Cambodia, women play a significant role in fisheries sector and the extent of their participation in aquaculture value chains is extensive. Women play a significant role in different aspects of fisheries, aquaculture and fishery post harvesting activities, particularly fish processing and marketing, but remain invisible and under represented in the sector. The report on “Gender Analysis of Post-harvest Fisheries of Cambodia” found that some 74 per cent of post harvest micro and small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are owned by women. Women dominated the processing segment, accounting for 54 per cent of fermented products, 67 per cent of marinated fish and fish ball products, and 75 per cent of fish sauce production and half of dried shrimp production. Women manage most of the tasks required specific skills such as purchasing raw material, fish selection, sorting, cleaning, salting, fermenting and smoking58. However, despite the apparent contribution by women at all stages of supply chain and their involvement in fish selling and processing, women’s roles tend to be conceptualised as ‘an extension of domestic work”’ and thus undervalued in economic terms. Due to gender-based constraints in terms of mobility, time availability, access to education and capacity building, business opportunities are limited for women. Owing to that, more support in terms of technical and financial is needed to empower women in post-harvest fisheries sector including facility upgrades, technology advancements, as well as skills and knowledge enhancements59. About 47 thousand households, a little over 1 percent of all households in Cambodia,are engaged in aquaculture activities in 2019/20. However, fewer female-headed households (23 percent) than male-headed households (38 percent) engaged in fishing activities60. Legal and Policy Framework The opportunity and initiation of gender development in agriculture sector is implemented within the framework of existing commitments, policies and the legal framework of the RGC. The RGC has demonstrated considerable support for gender equality since the re-establishment of peace. Equality between men and women is enshrined in the 1993 Cambodian constitution. This commitment was reinforced by Cambodian’s ratification of the Convention of Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1992, and its signing of the “Platform for Action” agreed at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. The Neary Rattanak (NR) is a strategic plan for gender equality. The Neary Rattanak underscores gender relevance and women empowerment in all spheres. MoWA launched the NR IV in 2014. Gender equality is one of the important cross-cutting themes of the RGC socio-economic policy as reflected in the Government’s Rectangular Strategy Phase III (2014-2018) and the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) as well as the 10-year National Programme for Sub-national Democratic Development. The Rectangular Strategy specifies the need to “further improve the status of women 58 Article in Phnom Penh Post, dated 25 June, 2021 59 ibid 60 Report of Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey, 2019 -2020, National Institute of Statistics, MoP 15 who are the backbone of Cambodian society and economy”. RGC’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals as set out in the Cambodian Sustainable Development Goals Framework. Agricultural policies, strategies and plans recognise the crucial role played by women in the sector, in production processes and environmental conservation. The Agricultural Sector Master Plan 2030, together with Agriculture Strategic Development Plan, Climate Change Strategic Plan and Action Plan for Agriculture, and Gender Mainstreaming Strategy, acknowledge the gender-differentiated roles and include provisions to promote gender equality in the objectives and processes of implementation. (UN Women and CDRI) The government is committed to promoting gender considerations in the forestry and the natural resource management sectors. However, mainstreaming gender into project implementation remains a challenge due to limited donor-funded support. (UN Women and CDRI) The Fisheries Strategic Planning Framework acknowledges the important role of women in the sub sector. The Fishery Administration approved the action plan for implementing gender equality in fisheries 2016-2020 to support the implementation of the ministry’s gender mainstreaming policy (UN Women and CDRI). At the present MAFF is preparing an action plan for the Gender Equality Promotion and Child Labour Elimination in Fishery sector, 2022 – 2026 with the support of FAO. The wider policy framework also supports gender mainstreaming in relation to agriculture and its subsectors. For example, the Gender and Climate Change Action Plan (GCCAP), National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP), National Technical Vocational Education and Training Policy (TVET) are gender mainstreamed throughout. However, other policies include limited or no mention of “gender” or “women”. The policy framework overall needs to be continually strengthened to address gender equality, gender stereotypes and to include sex-disaggregated data. Greater coordination and integration, including building upon ongoing achievements, and increased resourcing including increased and consistent support from donors in program implementation, would enhance RGC’s capacity to fulfill its gender equality mandates. (UN Women and CDRI) The Cambodia national gender mainstreaming institutional machinery includes four main elements within line ministries; MoWA, the Cambodian National Council for Women, the Technical Working Group on Gender (TWG-G), and the Gender Mainstreaming Action Groups (GMAG); and the Women’s and Children’s Consultation Committees which operate sub-nationally to promote gender equality. 3. Achievements in the Implementation of the GMPSFAS, 2016-2020 During the last five years, MAFF and their partners have made significant achievements, although at different levels for each objective and outcome, in the promotion of gender equality in agriculture sector. However, there are still some barriers due to social attitudes toward women, lack of leadership support and resources, limited capacity in gender mainstreaming and gender analysis, lack of coordination and collaboration across different agriculture development agencies. As part of the process of developing this updated GMPSFA, the MAFF GCWG conducted a participatory assessment of progress against the objectives of the previous GMPSFA, through consultations and a review of primary documentation and secondary literature. Some key achievements over the past five years (and some areas for strengthening) include: Objective 1: To promote women’s economic empowerment through women’s access to goods and services for agricultural development and market: 16  Women have increased access to information, technical skills and resources and technology including the introduction by business groups and ACs of digital technology to support farmers with up-to-date agriculture information and services.  Women have been able to increase their access to agricultural mechanisation through membership of ACs  Women have accessed credit through savings groups and ACs, some of them with MAFF support  More women have been reached with information and training. Of 117,010 farmers reached with training, 46 per cent were women.  Farmers and producers groups have increased and provided a good mechanism for strengthening women’s opportunities and outcomes  MAFF and partners have made efforts to strengthen women’s access to markets, including in high-value markets Objective 2: To strengthen capacities, resources and commitment within MAFF to ensure effective mainstreaming of gender perspective into agriculture sector:  MAFF’s commitment to gender equality has been translated into a number of policies and plans within subsectors  Gender capacity to implement the commitments has been strengthened within the sector including through integrating gender into the training curricula of agricultural colleges, but capacity needs further strengthening and implementation would be strengthened by improved coordination  During the assessment, partners reported they have found the previous GMPSA useful in designing and implementing programs; staffing of partner program teams with MAFF personnel with suitable gender expertise could be strengthened  Monitoring has been improved with increased disaggregation of data, but could be strengthened with more qualitative data collection and more data analysis  Women and men MAFF staff accessed training both in Cambodia and overseas, but women face some barriers relative to men Objective 3: To increase women’s and men’s equal representation and participation in agriculture sector:  Promotion of women into senior roles has fluctuated over the five years but overall remained at similar levels  MAFF and partners have made continuous efforts to increase women’s voice in the agriculture sector at community level  Promoting women in senior positions in academic institutions remains a critical challenge.  There has not been an overall increase in women enrolling in or completing studies in agriculture, though it varies among the three training colleges A more detailed summary of outcomes under each objective can be found at Annex 1. 17 4. Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture Sector 2022-2026 1. Vision and Mission Vision: MAFF and all partners contribute to an agriculture sector which is viable, attractive and profitable for women and men, and in which women benefit equitably. Mission:To strengthen MAFF impacts on gender equality in all subsectors, adding equitable and effective value. 2. Strategic Objectives Objective 1: To promote women’s economic empowerment through women’s equitable access to and use of resources and services and improved conditions for women in agriculture Outcomes: 1. Women have improved access to agricultural inputs, finance and technology 2. Women have greater access to information, knowledge and technical skill services to support their work in the agricultural sector, including emerging areas such as intensification and diversification, and climate change related opportunities 3. Women have stronger linkages to traditional and new market channels 4. Rural women’s workloads are decreased and and their contributions are more recognised and valued. Objective 2: To strengthen capacities, resources and commitment within MAFF to ensure effective mainstreaming of gender perspectives into agriculture sector Outcomes: 1. Women’s as well as men’s needs and concerns are integrated in all policies, regulations and legal frameworks 2. Gender equality practices are strengthened, resourced and integrated into the design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all activities, technical services, projects, programmes and budgets 3. Gender analysis is strengthened through comprehensive data collection including increased qualitative data, analysis and reporting of gender data in all MAFF activities and programs 4. Skills and knowledge in gender and agriculture strengthened across the sector including MAFF staff, MAFF gender working group and agricultural training institutions Objective 3: To increase women’s and men’s capacity, equal representation and participation in agriculture sector. Outcomes: 1. Women’s presence and influence in decision making process at MAFF has increased 2. Women’s presence and influence in decision making processes in community-based agricultural, and climate change groups has increased 3. Women have increased access to academic and professional development in agriculture, crop production, livestock, forestry, fisheries and rubber 18 Objective 4: To improve collaboration and coordination between all stakeholders in agriculture sector, climate change and natural resource management. Outcomes: 1. Partners integrate gender into the resourcing of all programs in line with the objectives of this strategy. 2. Stakeholders have increased, regular opportunities to raise and discuss gender constraints, good experiences and lessons learned with MAFF The detailed Strategy and plan are at Annex 2. Implementation Understanding the significance of gender mainstreaming is an important step in redressing the limited attention to women’s and men’s different roles, responsibilities, needs, interests, and constraints in the agriculture sector. However, translating this understanding into actions poses the greatest challenge to MAFF senior officials, technical staff, members of the GCWG and focal points at all levels and sub-sectors. The implementation requires commitment, accountability and dedicated financials and human resources, along with enhancing capacities and supporting cultural change within all related institutions. Ultimate accountability for implementing the Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture rests at the highest senior levels with MAFF (offices, departments and administrations) of the sub-sectors of the sector at all levels. However, responsibility for implementing the Strategy sits with all MAFF staff. The GCWG will play a key role in providing institutional support and technical guidance for its implementation. Specifically, the GCWG will be responsible for: a). drafting and finalizing the gender mainstreaming annual activity plan, b). integrating the gender mainstreaming annual plan into the MAFF annual plan, c). seeking partnerships with relevant stakeholders, d). Coordinating implementation of the activity plan, e). developing and implementing capacity building interventions, f). preparing progress reports to be presented to the sector technical working groups and TWG-G. 5. Monitoring and Evaluation Routine, systematic and high quality monitoring and evaluation is necessary to ensure implementation of this strategy. Both qualitative and quantititative data for each indicator will need to be collected to track progress in achieving the objectives and outcomes and to identify and address challenges and constraints and also to build upon successes and take advantage of opportunities. The sub-sectors and line departments under MAFF, relevant development partners related to the implementation of this strategy must report regularly to MAFF (GCWG) of the achievement through quarterly, semester and annual reports. Lack of comprehensive data has been a constraint to both assessing the achievement of and therefore to updating objectives and outcomes for this Strategy. Baseline data could be collected through cooperation between partners with interest and resources for specific areas of the Strategy. A mid-term review should be conducted to measure progress, identify challenges and to assess whether or not the targets set for 2026 can be realized and achieved, and also to provide an opportunity to revise relevant activities, indicators and targets according to the evolving situation. 19 The MAFF GCWG must prepare the final evaluation in respect of the implementation of the GMPSFA to assess the five-year achievements relating to the promotion of gender equality in the agriculture sector as well as the to identify priorities for the next phase. These tasks could be achieved through close collaboration between the GW and the departments, the Project Implementation and Management Units, partner NGOs and development partners. 20 Annex 1: Assessment of the Achievements in the Implementation of the GMPSFAS, 2016-2020 Objective 1: To promote women’s economic empowerment through women’s access to goods and services for agricultural development and market Outcome 1: Women have improved access to agricultural inputs Based on information provided by AC leaders, Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (PDAFF), inputs dealers and other stakeholders in some provinces involved in this progress assessment, women’s and men’s access to agricultural inputs continues to vary depending on the nature/kinds of inputs and services. As for seed, fertiliser and pesticide, both women and men have similar access regardless of their gender, but this can be different among AC members and non–AC ones. Some ACs serve as inputs suppliers, so they get discount as they purchase them in large amount and can pass this on to their members. Also, women AC members do not need to spend a lot of time travelling and it also saves their transportation cost. This makes accessing inputs easier for women in particular, due to their limited time and family responsibilities. Some business groups and ACs now use digital technology to search for inputs suppliers and up-to date agriculture technology. For example, Angkor Green company has established a Telegram group called Phum Chamnesdoeung which is joined by 5,629 women and men farmers, inputs dealers, and service providers. Farmers can ask for advice when they face any problem with their rice plants or other farming activities and they get responses not only from the inputs supplier or company but also from other farmers who have real life experiences. Also they can share market information if any company wants to buy agri produce in large amount. Women have found this group useful as it enables them to quickly access information and support they need. Another innovation has been the introduction during COVID-19 restrictions of tele-based extension services including Skype calls, text messaging and phone calls during restriction periods61. A recent gender analysis study on agriculture mechanisation carried out by the Cambodia-Australia Agricultural Value Chain Program (CAVAC) revealed that men farmers have much more access to agriculture mechanisation than women farmers for a range of reasons. It also showed that women face a complex set of inter-related, mutually reinforcing barriers to articulating their need either for machines that are generally operated by men or for equipment that would be more suitable for them. Even so, the benefits that women receive from agri-machinery include time saved, tasks made easier, money saved (and increased income), and improvements to health (because of the reduction in the hard labour required without the machinery). These elements also promoted more harmony in the household. Some ACs own agriculture machinery such as seed planter and tractor, either purchased using joint resources or donated by RGC, NGOs, and/or MAFF/PDAFF, and provide services to both members and non-members. AC membership enables women farmers to access agri-machinery services such as land laser levelling, land preparation, seed planting, harvesting and drone spraying. Some ACs given priority for service delivery to women members who are old, widow or ones whose husband migrates to other places62. 61 OECD, 2021 62 CAVAC forthcoming recent gender study on mechanisation 21 Savings groups appear to be a good finance mechanism for poor men and women as they do not require any collateral. During the last five years, MAFF have established 817 saving groups throughout the whole country with 43,024 members, 68 per cent of whom are women. Similarly, many ACs also provide financial services for their members, which works well for women, who can deposit their savings and take loans when needed. Therefore, ACs and saving groups assist women and other marginalised groups with different ways63. Outcome 2: Women have greater access to information, knowledge and technical skill services to support their work in the agricultural sector, including emerging areas such as crop intensification and diversification, fisheries, including aquaculture, livestock, forestry and rubber and climate change related opportunities. Based on the information provided by PDAFF in some provinces, women’s access to information, technical skills and resources and technology has increased. MAFF/PDAFF and other agriculture development programs provided a range of training on agriculture skills from animal raising, rice and other crop production, post harvest (despite challenges during the pandemic years due to restrictions on gatherings). However, participation of women relative to men in these trainings varied depending on topics covered. PDAFF in Siem Reap and Battambang said that many women attend their training on pesticide, fertiliser and vegetable production, but few or even none attended mechanisation training64. During the last five years, 117,010 farmers (44 per cent women) have been trained by MAFF on agriculture related skills. Also, MAFF provided training on climate change risk mitigation in forestry for 626 farmers (48 per cent women). MAFF, DPs and NGOs recognise that Agriculture Cooperatives and producer groups are useful means to improve agriculture production, knowledge and experience sharing and increasing access for farmers, especially women, to agriculture inputs, information, agri-technology and markets. During the last five years, MAFF has formed 636 community-forestry groups, with 16,924 members, 49 per cent women, 516 fisheries-groups, with 190,070 members, 44 percent women, 327 saving groups, 329 members, 49 percent women65. Also, the number of ACs established during this reporting period increased from 880 with 143,315 members (60 percent women) in 2017 to 1,217 with 254,759 members in 2021, with women’s membership currently at 63%, three percentage point higher than in 201766. 63 MAFF annual report 2019 64 CAVACs forthcoming study on gender and mechanisation identified the same issue. 65 MAFF progress report, 2017 – 2021, on the protection of women’s rights and promotion of gender equality 66 MAFF annual report 2019 22 Chart 1. AC members, 2017 – 2021, in percent During the assessment process, PDAFF observed that social attitudes toward women are gradually changing. Community increasingly recognises women’s contributions at household and community levels, accept women having increased voice/decision making power, and there is some evidence of reductions in violence against women and girls (the impact of the pandemic on prevalence is not yet quantified but is believed to be higher). Women themselves are becoming more assertive in expressing their concerns and more confident to participate in social development activities. They increasingly use up-to-date technology, namely smart phone to get market information, and equipment and materials to keep their vegetable and other agriculture produce fresh. MAFF gender focal points have observed that within producer groups and AC, women leaders appear to have equal decision-making power as men. However, women farmers’ work overload and time poverty still remain as barriers limiting their contribution. Outcome 3: Women have stronger linkages to traditional and new market channels Different agriculture development programs of development partners such as ADB, World Bank and FAO have developed and promoted market-driven sustainable agriculture and natural resource initiatives that provide benefits for rural communities. Examples include programs that increase rural communites’ resilience to climate change, improve their access to market opportunities and improve natural resource management; establish community-owned compliance database; and guarantee agriculture high value buyers through contract farming. MAFF and PDAFF have worked with different stakeholders, both NGOs and private sector. As mentioned, some NGOs have helped to connect ACs to high value customers and have facilitated contract farming agreements for ACs in Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear and Svay Rieng. Some DPs, development agencies and NGOs reported that they have designed and implemented strategies such as business forum to increase women farmers’ access to market and improve their network. In some provinces, women have been supported with marketing their produce. For example, ACs have built a shop at some provincial markets, or at their AC building, for selling their members’ agriculture produce, supported by NGOs, and PDAFF has supported some women farmers to sell their agri produce online. 0 20 40 60 80 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 60 62 63 79 63 40 38 37 21 37 AC members, 2017 – 2021, in percent Women Men 23 Objective 2: To strengthen capacities, resources and commitment within MAFF to ensure effective mainstreaming of gender perspective into agriculture sector. Outcome 1: Women’s as well as men’s needs and concerns are integrated in all policies, regulations and legal frameworks During the last five years, MAFF leadership has strong commitments to promote gender equality across different sub-sectors under agriculture. Integration of gender issues into MAFF policies, regulations, strategic plans, and action plans was one of MAFF key activities, which has contributed to its achievements. With support from MAFF leadership and Gender and Children’s Working Group (GCWG) some policies and strategic plans are gender responsive. For example, Action Plan for Gender Equality Promotion and Child Labour Elimination in the Fisheries Sector, 2016 – 2020 was developed and implemented with the support of FAO. Also, MAFF developed a Gender mainstreaming strategic plan for forestry sector, 2021 – 2025. However, some MAFF gender focal points feel that their gender mainstreaming work could have been stronger due to their limited capacity and experience in doing so. Some partners also raised their concern about the lack of gender data/information for the whole agriculture sector which can be obtained through agriculture assessment. They felt that this assessment should be done by MAFF every five years in order to identify new trends, especially before MAFF updates their GMPSFAS. Note that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) with their partners regularly carries out gender assessment on different sectors such as education and health, but not agriculture. Apart from this, some partners felt that more regular and frequent coordination meetings/workshops organised by MAFF would have provided more opportunities to raise gender concerns or exchange their experiences with MAFF at the national level. Integrating gender concepts into training programs of Agriculture Education Institutions was another key activity during the last five years. All three MAFF education institutions have gradually revised their training materials integrating gender concepts, and each teacher has made continuous efforts to integrate gender concepts when developing their session plans. Once again, limited capacity and experience is an important constraint for them. Outcome 2: Gender issues are integrated into the design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all activities, technical services, projects, programmes and budgets MAFF has formed strategic partnerships with two government ministries (Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Ministry of Environment), with some development partners (EU, ADB, WB and FAO) and with NGOs and agriculture development programs (Save the Children, SNV, CAVAC, WE EFFECT), and with private companies. Some of their partners felt that MAFF GMPSFAS is very good and informative, and it served as a road map so they use it as references for sector analytical work when they design new project, develop annual work plans, and implement project activities. DPs such as ADB and WB, NGOs and other development agencies also mainstreamed gender in their agriculture development program from the project design to the implementation stage. Gender is one of the criteria for NGOs and DPs to select project implementing partners to ensure that they are committed and have the capacity to promoting gender equality in the target area. Before designing new agriculture development programs/projects, MAFF together with their partners often conducted gender analysis, and program strategies were developed based on this analysis. 24 Each department within MAFF has set up monitoring systems to collect sex disaggregated data, mostly quantitative rather than qualitative, so the reports of some departments, administration and programs contain some information on gender. MAFF relevant officials felt that they have not gathered enough qualitative data and plan to focus more on this in the future. Data analysis is still lacking and needs to be strengthened and used to inform policy decisions and implementation. Although MAFF has made some positive outputs, they still face some constraints. Lack of gender focal points in project implementation team, especially ones funded by ADB or WB, is a critical constraint to integrate gender into project activities. During the progress assessment, some DPs said that MAFF has not nominated enough gender focal points in their project implementation teams. Sometimes, almost no team member has gender skills/expertise, they are focus on technical expertise only. Similarly, some Provincial Departments of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (PDAFFs) raised the same concerns that some projects have not collaborated/involved gender team during the design and implementation of project activities. Due to the lack of leadership support and financial resources, PDAFF in some provinces have not been able to implement MAFF GMPSFAS as they were supposed to. However, sub-sector staff have invited women farmers to attend their technical training workshops on different topics including crop production, animal raising, marketing strategies, and contract farming. Outcome 3: MAFF Gender and Children’s Working Group has appropriate and improved gender expertise, skills and resources to carry out its advocacy, knowledge building, partnership, technical assistance and monitoring roles MAFF GCWG and gender focal points and senior and technical officials have improved their confidence to perform gender roles after they attended gender training, study tour inside and outside the country that were organised by MAFF, development partners, NGOs and agriculture development programs. Training topics varied depending on each program’s overall goals and objectives. For example, MAFF focused on CEDAW, and others concentrated on gender mainstreaming in agriculture, gender mainstreaming in project design, planning, monitoring and evaluation (PPME), and gender mainstreaming in new agriculture technology that is resilient to climate change and natural disaster. During this reporting period, 29,521 training places were taken up by MAFF staff (36 percent women) and local authorities attended CEDAW training. In order to sustain their intervention and make the best use of their resources, some program focussed on building MAFF officials to become trainers, so they organised training of trainer workshops on gender mainstreaming in climate change and natural disaster for 290 MAFF officials (50 percent women)67. However, there are still some knowledge/skills gaps in some areas such as gender analysis among MAFF GCWG. MAFF key officials felt that they still need to have further/deeper gender competences to support and influence its partners to integrate women’s and men’s needs into their program/project strategies and resources allocation. 67 MAFF five year report, 2017 – 2021 on the protection of women’s rights and promotion of gender equality 25 Objective 3: To increase women’s and men’s equal presentation and participation in agriculture sector Outcome 1: Women’s presence and influence in decision making processes at MAFF has increased The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) encourages all government ministries to promote women in leadership positions, but this is still a critical challenge for MAFF to achieve for a few reasons. Firstly, it is perceived that women’s capacity is limited, especially their foreign languages, and computer skills. Lack of support or encouragement from leaders at national and subnational level is another hindering factor. As can be seen in the graph below, if compared with the previous figures during the last five years, the number of women in senior positions remains almost the same. Chart 2: MAFF women and men leaders, 2017 - 2021 However, in 2018 for the fifth Mandate of RGC (2018-2023), MAFF appointed and welcomed 2 women at senior positions, one secretary of state and one under secretary of state. Outcome 2: Women’s presence and influence in decision-making processes in community-based agriculture and natural resource groups has increased MAFF with DPs, NGOs and other agriculture development programs and projects have made continuous efforts to promote women in decision-making positions and women’s participation in agriculture cooperatives (AC) and other agriculture groups. However, the number of AC women leaders is still far lower than men’s, while the number of AC women members is higher than men. 0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 79.1 82.9 81.1 79.6 79.8 20.9 17.1 18.9 20.4 20.2 MAFF leaders, 2017 – 2021, in percent Men Women 26 Chart 3: AC leaders, 2017 – 2021, in percent Outcome 3: Women have increased access to academic and professional development opportunities to support their participation in the agriculture sector including crop production, livestock, fisheries, forestry and rubber. MAFF has made great achievements in this area. A lot of training workshops, both inside and outside the country, degree and non-degree courses, were organised for their officials. Through participation in these training workshops organised by MAFF, and its partners, MAFF staff including almost all 33 (1 man) MAFF GCWG members and other key officials have improved their expertise, skills and confidence to perform their management and technical roles. Promoting women in senior positions in academic institutions remains a critical challenge. During the last five years, the number of women in leadership positions within three agriculture university, institution and school remains the same for many positions, has slightly increased for a few positions, and even decreased for others. At Prek Leap and Kampong Cham Agriculture Institute, the number of women in all senior positions remains the same during the last five years. Whereas a woman became Vice Rector at RUA, two women as Vice Chief decreased. Similarly, the number of female students at the three agriculture training institutions just slightly increased from 34 percent in 2017 to 39 percent in 2021. Graph 4: Students at Agriculture Training Institutions, in percent 0 20 40 60 80 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 33 60 39 39 39 67 40 61 61 61 AC leaders, 2017 - 2021, in percent Women Men 0 20 40 60 80 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 34 36 40 40 39 66 64 60 60 61 Students at MAFF agriculture schools, 2017 – 2021, in percent Women Men 27 Annex 2: Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture Sector Update 2022-2026 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget Objective 1: To promote women’s economic empowerment through women’s equitable access to and use of resources and services and improved conditions for women in agriculture Expected Output 1.1: Women have improved access to agricultural inputs, finance and technology 1.1.1. In partnership with partners who aim to promote agri sector in Cambodia, target and promote activities to women and men equitably as agricultural producers and workers, using gender transformative approaches that address barriers for women MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Percentage of women, men who benefit from agri development program Percentage of women, men who used improved agriculture inputs (eg high quality seeds, approved fertilisers and pesticides, good quality fingerlings and others) At least 40 – 50 percent of the total project beneficiaries are women MAFF, DP, NGOs 1.1.2. Create improved opportunities for women farmers to join Agriculture Cooperatives (AC) and other groups and services to increase access to saving and credit and other finance schemes that better meet their needs MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Percentage of women and men who have more equitable acess to savings and credit scheme. Women at least 50 percent receive saving and credit services MAFF, DP, NGOs 28 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget 1.1.3. MAFF to collaborate with service providers including inputs companies and dealers encouraging them to involve women and men equitably to join their meeting, field days, field demo, training workshop on new farming technology MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Percentage of women and men who have attended meeting, field days, field demo, training workshop Women between 70 – 80 percent attend meeting, field days, training workshops on new farming technology. MAFF, DP, NGOs 1.1.4. Support women entrepreneurs’ capacity and performance at all levels in agro-business, forestry and fisheries and livestock, and agro processing enterprise using gender transformative approaches to address barriers MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Number of women entrepreneurs receiving support from MAFF/DPs/NGOs At least 20 – 30 percent of women receive business support from MAFF, DPs, NGOs MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 1.1.5. Support improved conditions for women as workers within agricultural value chains, through research and initiatives (programs and/ or campaigns) targeting workers and employers and policy makers MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Studies undertaken and initiatives developed At least two new significant initiatives (at least one involving multiple stakeholders) addressing conditions and rewards for women workers in agricultural value chains MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 1.1.6. Identify specific policies for revision to incorporate stronger MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Policies identified and revised through meaningful At least two significant policy initiatives MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 29 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget consultation processes with key stakeholders including civil society organisations focused on women’s rights supporting increased provision for gender transformative approaches within the agriculture sector Expected Output 1.2: Women have greater access to information, knowledge and technical skill services to support their work in the agricultural sector, including potential areas such as intensification and diversification, and climate change related opportunities 1.2.1. Organise training workshops on livestock, crops, fisheries and agro industry providing equitable access for women and men farmers. MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Percentage of women, men who have been trained on agri farming technology At least 40 – 50 percent of women are trained on agri farming, 20 – 30 % apply new learning MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 1.2.2. In partnership with inputs companies, develop and support equitable access for women and men in Agriculture Development Groups (ADGs) to use social media to facilitate learning cross sharing of knowledge, raise questions MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Number of women, men who are in ADG 30 – 40 percent of ADG members are women MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 1.2.3. Organise study tours for farmers to exchange their good lessons learned/experience using approaches that ensure on equitable access for women and men by addressing barriers for women MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Number of women, men attending these events At least 30 percent of study tour participants are women MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 30 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget 1.2.4. Develop brochures, leaflet and other promotional materials about new agriculture technology that are accessible and equitably targeted and distributed to women and men farmers MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Number of women, men receiving promotional materials Women at least 30 – 40 percent receive brochures, leaflet and other materials MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs Expected Output 1.3: Women have stronger linkages to traditional and new market channels 1.3.1. Promote e-commerce for agriculture product using transformative approaches that adddress barriers for women MAFF, DPs, NGOs, private sector Percentage of women and men farmers who have access to markets using e commerce At least 20 percent of women can use digital technology MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 1.3.2. Build digital technology skills for women and men who are in agri business MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Number of women, men farmers who have beeen trained on digtial technology. Increased percentage of digital technology programs include strategies to address barriers for women At least 20 percent of women farmers attend training on digital skills. At least 70% of events organised report on efforts made to faciliate women’s participation and benefit MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 1.3.3. Strengthen ACs and agriculture related business groups or collectives that are led by women or with the MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Number of women led ACs and other agriculture business At least 10 – 20 percent of women led ACs and MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 31 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget majority of their female members through market services groups or collectives that have established connections to high order traders agriculture business groups or collectives receive high order 1.3.4. Promote Contract Farming for agri produce on an equitable basis using gender transformative approaches MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Number of ACs involved in contract farming At least 10 – 20 percent of ACs involve in contract farming with gender equitable processes and outcomes MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 1.3.5. Organise forum/business linkage events for women, traders, processors, MFI and other key stakeholders and take necesary steps to facilitate equitable participation by women and men MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Number of women, men attending the events Efforts made to ensure equitable participation At least 30 – 40 percent of women attend business linkage events At least 04 business linkage events organised annually 70% of activities implemente and report on efforts made to facilitate equitable participation by women MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs Expected Output 1.4: Women’s workloads are decreased and their contributions are more recognised and valued. 32 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget 1.4.1 Integrate awareness raising on equal sharing workload among women and men into all activities MAFF and its partners (DP, NGOs, private sector) Percentage of programs promoting and reporting on issues of shared workload At least 40% of activities report on workload issues for women and efforts made to address this MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs Objective 2: To strengthen capacities, resources and commitment within MAFF to ensure effective mainstreaming of gender perspectives into agriculture sector Expected Output 2.1: Women’s as well as men’s needs and concerns are integrated in all policies, regulations and legal frameworks 2.1.1. Ensure MAFF Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture (GEPSF) update 2022 – 2026 is disseminated nd socialsed through workshops at national and subnational level and all stakeholders commit to its implementation MAFF Gender Working Group, with DPs & NGO Number of dissemination worshops organised Level of support for implementation At least 4 dissemination workshops, one at national level, organised MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 2.1.2. Strengthen knowledge base and monitoring of progress by increased data collection including gender assessments in agriculture sector to support implementation and monitoring of GEPSFA MAFF Gender Working Group, with DPs & NGO Study reports published At least one study conducted. MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 2.1.3. Integrate gender issues into MAFF strategies, policies and regulations MAFF Gender Working Group, with DPs & NGO Increased MAFF strategies, policies and regulations are At least 70 percent of MAFF strategies, policies and regulalations are MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 33 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget gender responsive or transformative gender responsive; at least 30% are gender transformative in intent 2.1.4. Conduct feasibilty study, trial and establish child care facilities under MAFF work places MAFF Gender Working Group, with DPs & NGO Number of child care facillities trialed and established Lessons learned shared and used as basis for further development of workplace child care in agriculture sector At least one MAFF child care facility is operating successfully Plans underway for further facilities with firm timelines MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 2.1.5. Organise training workshop on gender responsive budgeting (GRB) MAFF Gender Working Group, with DPs & NGO All MAFF budgets are gender responsive At least one workshop is organised MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs Expected Output 2.2: Gender equality practices are strengthened, resourced and integrated into the design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all activities, technical services, projects, programmes and budgets 2.2.1. Conduct gender progress assessment of all agriculture development projects under MAFF to identify achievements, constraints and solutions MAFF Gender Working Group, with DPs & NGO Report of progress assessment At least one progress assessment is conducted MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 34 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget 2.2.2. Integrate gender issues into program/project design, planning, implementation, evaluation of technical servicess MAFF Gender Working Group, with DPs & NGO All programs, projects under MAFF are gender responsive; increasing number of projects are gender transformative All programs/ projects are gender responsive; at least some aspects of all MAFF activities are gender transformative MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 2.2.3. Nominate gender focal point in all project implementing units (PMU) MAFF Gender Working Group, with DPs & NGO Number of gender focal points in PMU At least 80 percent of all implementation teams have gender focal person MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs Expected Output 2.3: Gender analysis is strengthened through comprehensive data collection including increased qualitative data, analysis and reporting of gender data in all MAFF activities and programs 2.3.1. Strenghen the capacity of MAFF staff including GCWG on gender analysis MAFF Gender Working Group, with DPs & NGO Number of MAFF GCWG trained 100 percent of GCWG are trained in gender analysis skills; 50% of staff have at least some training in gender analysis MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 2.3.2. Strengthen M&E system to collect quantitative and qualitative data and monitor GMSP implementation GCWG and DPs MAFF’s M&E system is gender responsive including routine sex disaggregated data Gender responsive plan, M&E system is developed and put in use. MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 35 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget collection and increasing use of qualitative data collection and analysis 70% of programs collect and analyse comprehensive quantitative and qualitative gender data All programs routinely collect sex disaggregated data and collect and analyse at least some quantitative data 2.3.3. Organise training workshop on gender mainstreaming in report writing MAFF GCWG, with DPs & NGO All MAFF reports have gender information and analysis At least one training workshop on gender mainstreaming in report writing is organised At least 70 percent of MAFF quarterly, semester and annual reports have gender information At least 40 percent of MAFF reports MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 36 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget include thorough gender analysis Expected Output 2.4: Skills and knowledge in gender and agriculture strengthened including MAFF staff, gender working group and agricultural training institutions 2.4.1 Organise regular ongoing training workshop for MAFF staff, GCWG and agriculture training institutions on gender and agriculture MAFF GCWG, with DPs & NGO Number of MAFF GCWG and officials from agri training institutions trained on gender and agriculture 30% of all MAFF staff and agricultural training institution staff access some gender training every year GCWG are trained on gender and agriculture every year Thorough data on all training is collected (type of training, duration, provider, participant lists, feedback and evaluation) MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 2.4.2. Organise training workshop for key officials of agriculture training institutions on gender mainstreaming in agriculture training curriculum and training materials MAFF GCWG, with DPs & NGO Key officials of agriculture training institutions and MAFF gender working group have knowledge on 60% of key officials of agriculture training institutions MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 37 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget gender mainstreaming in agriculture training curriculum and materials receive gender training 2.4.3. Support agricultural training institutions to integrate gender key concepts into agriculture training curriculum and training materials MAFF GCWG, with DPs & NGO Agriculture training curriculum and training materials are gender responsive Gender is comprehensively integrated in at least one training curriculum MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs Objective 3: To increase women’s and men’s capacity, equal representation and participation in agriculture sector. Expected Output 3.1: Women’s presence and influence in decision-making processes at MAFF has increased 3.1.1. Increase women’s representation in MAFF at all levels and in all roles GCWG, relevant departments and leaderships Women’s representation under MAFF increased Women’s representation under MAFF increases from 25% to 30% At least three significant initiatives undertaken to increase women's representation at decision-making levels and in technical roles MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 38 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget 3.1.2. Undertake initiatives to support promotion of women including produce and disseminate multimedia good case studies on women in technical and decision making positions through the medias of MAFF GCWG, relevant departments, leaderships, and medias of MAFF Case study on women in decision making positions At least 2 cases studies are developed and disseminated each year and used to inform initiatives to advance women within the department MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 3.1.3 Undertake initiatives to promote attitudinal and cultural change in attitudes towards women and gender equality throughout MAFF GCWG, relevant departments, leaderships, and medias of MAFF working collaboratively with women’s rights organisations Increased understanding of both the benefits and the barriers to increased women’s representation in technical and sênior roles At least two initiatives to change atitudes result in changed practices (eg in recruitment, training, promotion or conditions of employment) supportive of increased participation of women at all levels and in all roles in MAFF MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs Expected Output 3.2: Women’s presence and influence in decision-making processes in community-based agricultural and climate change management groups has increased 39 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget 3.2.1. Collaborate with relevant departments and local authorities and initiative activities to increase women’s representation in AC, Community Forestry, Fisheries, Rubber and Veterinarian including at leadership level, addressing identified challenges and barriers GCWG, relevant departments, and local authorities Women’s representation in collectives within agriculture sector and subsectors increased, including at leadership level Women’s representation in AC, Community Forestry, Fisheries, Rubber and Veterinarian increases from 15% to 20% MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 3.2.2. Increase number of women in all processes of planning, management of agriculture inputs/agriculture VC GMAG and relevant departments Progress reports At least 40% of participants in all process and activities implementation are women MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 3.2.3. Increase women’s equal and meaningful participation through initiatives including isseminate case studies about the success of women in agriculture sector and subsectors through media GMAG and medias Good case study developed At least 10 cases study developed,dissemin ated and used to increase understanding of benefits of and barriers to women’s full participation MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 40 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget Further initiatives developed based on learning 3.2.4. Collaborate with relevant departments to provide public information related to agriculture sector such as new MAFF guideline related to contract farming to community people, especially women GMAG and relevant departments Percentage of female headed household receiving public informaiton Farmers, especially female headed households, receive public information MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs Expected Output 3.3: Women have increased access to academic and professional development in agriculture, crop production, livestock, forestry, fisheries and rubber 3.3.1. Increase opportunities for women officials to attend trainings/workshops inside and outside the country including in non traditional áreas of expertise GCWG, relevant departments, leaderships, and medias of MAFF Increased number of women joining training Women attend training inside the country increases from 38% to 45% nmeWo attend training workshops outside the country increases from 24% to 35% Detailed information kept on all training accessed inside and outside the country (topic, location, MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 41 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget duration, provider, number and sex of participants, cost and funding source) 3.3.2. Provide scholarship for female students to study at RUA, Prek Leap Agriculture Institute and Kampong Cham Agriculture school GCWG, relevant departments, leaderships, and MAFF Number of female students getting scholarship 50 percent of female students receive scholarship from RUA and Prek Leap Agriculture Institute and Kampong Cham Agriculture School MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 3.3.3. Develop initiatives to prioritise recruitment of female candidates to be MAFF official GCWG, Ministry of Social Public Work, MAFF HR Number of inititatives undertaken to increase percentage of staff who are female Percentage of female staff At least 50 percent of women have priority to take exam and be MAFF officials MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs Objective 4: To improve collaboration and coordination between all stakeholders in agriculture sector, climate change and natural resource management. Expected output 4.1. Partners integrate gender into the resourcing of all programs in line with the objectives of this strategy. 4.1.1. Integrate GEPSFA aims and strategies in all agriculture development projects under MAFF, DP’s and MAFF GCWG, with DPs & NGO Agriculture development projects with gender action plan At least 15 – 20 percent of agriculture development MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 42 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget NGOs’ agriculture development programs projects have gender action plan Expected 4.2. Stakeholders have increased, regular opportunities to raise and discuss gender constraints, good experiences and lessons learned with MAFF 4.2.1. Increased coordination and knowledge sharing through regular meetings/ forums for NGOs/DP and other agriculture development programs to share progress and discuss gender constraints in agriculture sector and explore possible solutions MAFF GCWG, with DPs & NGO Meetings held regularly with active engagement by stakeholders Meetings/ forums lead to increased sharing of gender data, studies and experiences from all agriculture development programs Positive feedback/ evaluation of fórum events/ meetings from stakeholders At least two meetings organised per year and well attended by stakeholders MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 4.2.2. Increased coordination and knowledge sharing within MAFF GCWG through introduction of annual meeting/ workshop MAFF GCWG, with DPs & NGO Report of annual meeting Positive feedback on anual meetings from MAFF WGW members At least one meeting organised annually 80% of MAFF WGW report positive experience of learning and MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 43 Main Activities Implementer/ Responsibility Indicator 2026 Targets Budget increased coordination resulting from anual meetings 4.2.3. Organise study tour for MAFF GCWG to learn from successful program on women’s empowerment MAFF GCWG, with DPs & NGO Report of study tour organised At least one study tour organised annually MAFF resources, DPs and NGOs 44 Annex 3: References Cambodia Microfinance Association, Annual report, 2021 DFAT, 2020-2021 Cambodia Development Program Progress Report, 2021 Gavalyugova, Dimitria & Cunningham, Wendy, Gender Analysis of the Cambodian Labor Market, World Bank, 2021 HRM Asia, Gender Equality Key to boost Cambodia’s economic output: ADB, 12 March 2021, https://hrmasia.com/gender-equality-key-to-boost-cambodias-economic-output-adb/ accessed 17 February 2022 ILO, A Gender-responsive Employment Recovery: Building Back Fairer, ILO Policy Brief, July 2020) Huot, Sovanneary and Jensen, Leif, Gender implications of COVID-19 in Cambodia, in Castellanos, Paige, Sachs, Carolyn E. and Tickamyer, Ann R., eds. Gender, Food and COVID-19: Global Stories of Harm and Hope, Routledge, 2022 MAFF, Agriculture Sector Development Plan 2019 – 2023 MAFF, Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategic Framework in Agriculture 2016 – 2020 MAFF, Annual Report 2018-2019 and Direction 2019-2020, MAFF Conference report 2019 Phnom Penh Post, Women’s post-harvest fisheries role understated despite dominance in the sector, 25 June 2021, https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/womens-post-harvest-fisheries role-understated-despite-dominance-sector accessed 17 February 2022 NIS, Cambodia Inter-Censal Agriculture Survey 2019 (CIAS19) Final Report, National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of Planning and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 2019 NIS, Women and Men in Cambodia: Facts and Figures 2018, National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of Planning, Phnom Penh, 2018 NIS, Report of Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey 2019/20, National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of Planning, Phnom Penh, 2020 OECD, Strengthening Women’s Entrepreneurship in Agriculture in ASEAN Countries, 2021 Oxfam Cambodia 2020. The impact of COVID-19 on Cambodia’s most vulnerable populations, 2020 Sok Piseth, Yang Monyoudom, Houn Tynarath Cambodia’s Agri-Food Trade: Structure, New Emerging Potentials, Challenges & Impacts of Covid-19, Research Paper 5, November 2021 https://www.canr.msu.edu/prci/publications/Research-Papers/PRCI Research Paper 5 Cambodia.pdf Tanyag, Maria and True, Jacqui, Gender responsive alternatives to climate change: a country report on Cambodia, Monash Gender, Peace and Security, Monash University, 2018 UNDP, The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene, Briefing note for countries on the 2020 Human Development Report: Cambodia, 2020, http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/KHM.pdf UNIDO, Policy Assessment for the Economic Empowerment of Women in Green Industry Executive Summary: Cambodia, 2020 UNSDG, Stepping in: Women prepare for natural disasters, United Nations Sustainable Development Group, 18 February 2020, https://unsdg.un.org/latest/stories/stepping-women prepare-natural-disasters https://hrmasia.com/gender-equality-key-to-boost-cambodias-economic-output-adb/ https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/womens-post-harvest-fisheries-role-understated-despite-dominance-sector https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/womens-post-harvest-fisheries-role-understated-despite-dominance-sector https://www.canr.msu.edu/prci/publications/Research-Papers/PRCI-Research Paper 5 Cambodia.pdf https://www.canr.msu.edu/prci/publications/Research-Papers/PRCI-Research Paper 5 Cambodia.pdf http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/KHM.pdf https://unsdg.un.org/latest/stories/stepping-women-prepare-natural-disasters https://unsdg.un.org/latest/stories/stepping-women-prepare-natural-disasters 45 UN Women, Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot, September 2020 UN Women and CDRI, State of Gender Equality and Climate Change in Cambodia, 2021 Women’s World Banking, Access to finance of women-owned SMEs in Southeast Asia: an assessment of five countries, August 2015