Knowledge

Labour-saving technologies and practices promote inclusive development by reducing the domestic workload and freeing up time to perform productive tasks, to participate in decision-making processes and development opportunities, and to enjoy more leisure time.

There is a recognized need in the water sector for more accurate data on access to water in terms of the distance travelled and the time needed to collect water to meet all household needs, and who or what combination of people are involved in water collection.

This How To Do Note looks at the opportunities provided by labour-saving technologies and practices for rural women in the domestic sphere. The purpose is to inform IFAD country programme managers, project teams and partners of proven labour-saving methods available to reduce the domestic workload and how they can best be selected and implemented – to help promote equitable workloads between men and women and contribute to poverty eradication.

The programme will focus on the development of the sugarcane industry

in Bagamoyo, while also building the local populations resilience to climate change.
 

The project consists of two main components. The first aims to promote effective climate change resilient production systems, while the second supports access to
markets and other economic opportunities.

Higher temperatures, wildlife extinction, rising sea levels, droughts, floods, heat-related diseases and economic losses are among the consequences of climate change. Climate change disproportionally affects the poorest and most marginalized communities living in vulnerable regions, among them indigenous peoples, whose livelihoods depend on natural resources. 

Territorial approaches can enable governments to better address geographical or rural-urban inequalities to more effectively integrate the social, economic and environmental dimensions of development with regard to populations and sectors in a given geographical area.
They can help coordinate and concentrate efforts to address the spatial concentration of poverty and food insecurity in some less developed areas, reflecting vast spatial inequalities.

There are three major poverty divides in Ghana: rural-urban, northsouth, and between women and men. To meet these challenges, IFAD, the African Development Bank and the Government of Ghana are investing in rural northern Ghana to create viable economic opportunities – particularly for women – while improving market linkages with the south and neighbouring countries. The Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP) is spurring agricultural and rural growth and poverty reduction with innovative approaches like District Value Chain Committees (DVCCs). IFAD-supported NRGP worked in partnership, for example, with the Association of Church Based Development (ACDEP), a local NGO in northern Ghana to establish the DVCCs. Today, DVCCs are responsible for the effective planning, implementation, coordination and monitoring of activities in the maize, soya and sorghum value chains. The committees include buyers, input providers (seeds and fertilizers), service providers (extension and tractor services), financial institutions like rural banks, and farmer-based organizations (FBOs). 

When the seasonal rains came to some regions of south-eastern Senegal, the flooding used to cut off the inhabitants from the rest of the country. But that has changed with the IFAD-supported project known as PADAER – Projet d’Appui au Développement Agricole et à l’Entreprenariat Rural. Thanks to the projects’ work on rebuilding roads, rural people have new possibilities to make a living, they can access health services and education, and bring their products to markets.

A new lifeline; a new way of life.

For poor rural people, lack of infrastructure often translates into lack of options and alternatives. The project is changing that.