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Indigenous Panama seeks to empower its women

2022-07-07T18:36:13.430Z


A productive inclusion project aims to open more opportunities to thousands of poor indigenous families


Heladia Arcia González, farmer from the Ngabe-Buglé region.FAO

Heladia Arcia González is an applied student.

In less than a year, he learned to multiply much more than numbers: he not only doubled the number of chickens and tubers on his plot in the Ngäbe-Buglé region in Panama, but also, with the extra income from the sale of his products, he was able to reinvest in your business without resorting to expensive loans.

The story of Heladia, a student at a Country School, is one of the 3,000 that lead indigenous women in rural Panama, who like her acquire the necessary skills to manage the land.

Its goal is to increase the production of vegetables and poultry in the plots so that families have enough and nutritious food throughout the year, in addition to generating additional income.

The indigenous population in Panama is equivalent to more than 12% of its inhabitants, they are divided into seven towns that live mainly in six regions or comarcas.

They are historically disadvantaged groups with economic growth challenges, since poverty in the regions affects more than 85% of its people.

In the country, indigenous men earn, on average, 57% less than non-indigenous men, while women earn around 70% less.

But the bloodiest fact is that six out of ten children suffer from chronic malnutrition in the regions, which not only impacts their growth but also their ability to learn and future development.

"I consumed, I sold, I received money and I had an experience that I didn't have," says Heladia, speaking of her experience developed through the productive inclusion program of the Ministry of Social Development known as Social Cohesion.

Social Cohesion is what is known in English as a

cash plus program

, that is, it is a support of a productive type that is added to other already existing supports.

Here he joined Red de Oportunidades, a conditional cash transfer program in force since 2006 in Panama, which provides monthly economic support to mothers in exchange for their children attending school and regular health check-ups.

Social Cohesion offered the beneficiaries of the Red de Oportunidades a route towards the generation of autonomous income, since it is a program focused on women from various indigenous populations, who live in the most impoverished areas of the country.

Gaston Mariano Blanco, a senior specialist in social protection at the World Bank, explains that the main objective of the Social Cohesion program is to improve the food security of extremely poor families in Panama.

And at the same time, promote improvements in the conditions of these families to in turn boost the human capital of their children.

Field Schools

In the Field Schools, the "students" together with their tutors - who are agricultural technicians - work on problems and solutions to improve their crops through what they call experiential learning.

The so-called Field Schools are a methodology that the FAO has been developing since the 1980s in different countries and are the key to the development of projects for rural productive inclusion.

An important aspect is that the tutors speak the language of the community and are often part of it.

Although the training is eminently technical, food and nutritional education is also provided, in order to promote behavioral changes towards healthier diets.

For example, the seeds that are delivered include vegetables, a nutrient that previously did not have a strong presence in their diet.

Throughout this training process, the women are also provided with tools for agricultural use, they are given various seeds and they are given broiler chickens and feed for their birds, thereby reinforcing the transfer of knowledge.

A year after being part of the program, Heladia increased the production of her plots: with the commercialization of the surplus of the yam and plantain tuber, she generated 570 dollars.

On previous occasions he went to ask for credit for his next crops, this time, the money he earned was invested and he did not ask for loans.

Úrsula Martínez, a specialist in social protection at the World Bank, highlights that a relevant point that crosses the program is "strengthening women through economic empowerment, which occurs by increasing their ability to contribute to the home."

And fair enough, the increase in their harvests and the sale of their products is boosting their access to economic and financial resources and making their role visible within their community.

In addition to the fact that participation in the Field Schools has "evolved their voice", that is, initially they did not speak much in the workshops and over time they have become more expressive and participatory.

This program, which belongs to the Ministry of Social Development, was implemented in coordination with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and received financing and technical support from the World Bank.

An impact evaluation, which is nearing completion, is expected to generate favorable evidence that will allow it to move from a pilot project to a national scale.

Jessica Belmont

is a communicator for the World Bank.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-07-07

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