Community Development Issues

An Extract from the Study on gender Perspective in Bean Farming in Arumeru District

Subordination of the women bean farmers seems to be contributed to by many things. One and the foremost is the fact that women bean farmers do not own land, are comparatively less accessible to other resources like money, modern tools and also agricultural information, which could have helped them to improve their cropping practices. Cultural barriers have a great influence in such a way that rural women themselves seem to accept the position they are in at any cost.

One of the strengths that rural women bean farmers have is the fact that they are hard workers and that quality needs to be boosted by some help like credit, technical services, access to extension and legal rights and appropriate technologies, to enable them produce more for the benefit of their households, communities and a nation at large.

Major weaknesses towards development of the women bean farmers are: inaccessibility to and lack of control over land resource, inaccessible to modern farming methods and tools, inaccessibility to irrigation water, lack of decision making power, limited time as a result of extra workload and lack of power towards rural women organization.

Recommendations

Recommendations to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security
Due to the fact that the role of research is now changing, from doing on station trials, to meeting farmers and undertake on farm participatory technology development and dissemination, there is a great need to employ more researchers so that both tasks can be achieved successfully. The current situation makes researchers to work under pressure because of many responsibilities.
There is also a need to improve the extension system such that it can improve its delivering systems to the farmers. It is common to find that majority of the extensionists in the rural areas have never attended any training, other than the basic course they received. The implication of this fact is that the extensionists remain outdated in terms of new technologies developed by the researchers. A need to strengthen the link between researchers, extensionists and farmers is of great importance. Other motivating factors such as transport, housing and working conditions should be considered.

Recommendations to researchers and development workers
The bean improvement programmes that has been initiated should consider the importance of gender consideration with a new outlook. There is great need for promoting bean varieties which can contribute to income generation to women, instead of strengthening a feeling that all what women need, are varieties which are intended for food. In this way women farmer groups can help to reduce their disadvantageous position.

Women bean farmers have very limited opportunities to improve their cropping practices. However, it is thought that efforts to reduce these hindering factors to women bean farmers can help release them from such problems. It is also thought that strategies to liberate women should not involve women in isolation, but rather as an integral part of the whole community.

The approach used to reach farmers by crop departments individually is also an area of concern. Collaboration is needed between researchers, agricultural crop and input marketing agencies, organizations dealing with agricultural improvement projects and local authorities. In this way duplication of work and/or “piece meal” delivery to farmers will be minimized.

Every development worker is supposed to bear in mind about how gender sensitive his/her programme is. By so doing, slowly we will be trying to reach gender needs of men and women in our communities. On the other hand, local governments should ensure that local extensionists reach both men and women farmers without bias.

Recommendations to policy makers
Policy statement on gender issues is very clear but its implementation is a problem. It is not enough to state that the Ministry recognises contribution of women and would improve their conditions, but much more important is to put into practice those plans of actions. The problem of land acquisition among women farmers is very historical one but less effort is done to ensure equal accessibility to land by both men and women. The land tenure system has to be made clear and fair enough so that women bean farmers can acquire land of their own. Policy makers should put more emphasis on extending credit facilities to rural areas as well so that farming practices can be improved, instead of having many credit schemes being concentrated in urban areas.

Good Governance

African Peer Review Mechanism

African Peer Review Mechanism, which is a voluntary self assessment, constructive peer dialogue and persuasion, and sharing of experiences and best practices. APRM fosters adoption of policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development, and accelerated sub regional and continental economic integration. This peer review process is open to all members of the African Union. APRM is not only concerned with the governmence, but rather is concerned with the people of a particular country undergoing the process to attain good governance. This review covers wider spectrum of a society – Government, Civil Organizations, Politicians, Private Sector, etc. This explains the current mix of participants we have here today. Good care was taken by the organisers, to involve every section of the society at this early stages such that all of us should be part and parcel of this process for successful achievement of the desired goal.

APRM concept is derived from the New Partnership for Africa’s Development [NEPAD], which is a comprehensive, integrated and strategic framework by African Countries aimed at bringing socio-economic development. The idea behind all these efforts is to make Africans masters of their situation. It is an effort towards home grown solutions to the problems facing the African Continent. The African Peer Review Mechanism to date has been acceded to by more than 23 African Countries. It spells an unprecedented and new commitment to self- monitoring and review of progress towards Good Governance.

The review process entails not a one time event but rather a permanent voluntary mechanism that fosters the adoption of policies, standards and practices in areas of democracy and political governance; economic governance; corporate governance; and socio- economic development.

A strong consensus has evolved across Africa on the critical importance of Good Governance as a precondition to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

GOOD GOVERNANCE

PRINCIPLES OF GOOD GOVERNANCE
The quest for good governance is not just for the beauty of it. The ultimate objective and indeed proof of good governance is the sustainable political, social, economic and cultural well being of a people. Therefore the point of departure for improving governance in any country is the analysis and appreciation of the situation not only in terms of political, administrative and systematic governance but also in terms of the economic and social well being of the people.
What is governance then? As a process in which collective power is utilised for the realisation of common objectives, governance involves actions and interaction of individuals and groups of individuals in diverse and dynamic ways, and institutions that are continuously changing.
Good Governance is informed by five principles:
Transparency in all areas of public domain
Efficiency in the running of public institutions and Effectiveness in the delivery of services,
Accountability,
Legitimacy and
Predictability.
Good governance takes place when the process is conducted within the framework of a written constitution, constitutionalism, the separation of powers and the rule of law, and ethical codes of conduct and traditions of the people; when it responds to the basic needs, wishes and aspirations of the people; when it is based on sound, efficient organisational and operational principles; and when the entire process is transparent and accountable, whose consequences are understood and predictable. Leadership, competence, political will, integrity and capacity are critical to the promotion of good governance. The following are generally considered to be the principles constituting good governance:
· Constitutionalism: guaranteeing separation of powers, checks and balances, power sharing and sustained respect for and reference to the constitution in all aspects of governance.
· Separation of Powers: the principle of separation of powers insists that no one person or an organ of state should at any one time be in control or have influence over the operation of three organs of government, namely the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.
· Rule of Law: the rule of compels government and those in charge of governance processes to conduct their activities and behave in accordance with the known and established legal principles and norms. Government powers should be defined by law and be subject to legal control. If challenged government should be able to identify the legal source of its powers, which, furthermore must be such that they exist to protect, guide and provide adequate safeguards against the abuse of power for all the people in society.
· Justice: an effective system of dispensing justice which is fair and accessible to all.
· Electoral and participatory democracy for people to take part in making the decisions that concern their lives and livelihoods, via effective and efficient electoral systems and behaviour, decentralised structures and political, managerial and economic decision making, and a vibrant civil society that ensure sustainable legitimacy for the government.
· Peace and security of person and property.
· Respect, protection and promotion of human rights and basic freedoms by all.
· A reconciled, peaceful and harmonious society.
· Political, managerial and financial accountability and transparency.
· Equity, both intra and inter-generational, including gender balancing and responsiveness, environment as well as external debt management.
· Informed citizenry, through an effective free and responsible media, public access to information, and accessible education for all.
· Effective and efficient delivery of public services, via competent, effective, efficient and accountable public service and other systems for services delivery.
· At least a minimum standard for every one.
· Exemplary, visionary and inspirational leadership that exhibits sustained political will.
· Positive agreed societal values.
· Professional, positive moral and ethical standards.
· Love for one’s country (not xenophobia or fanatical nationalism).