Third Project Report: Gender in Agriculture: From Policy to Practice in Honduras

The project's main objective is to develop the skills and competencies of women leaders and empower them to exercise their rights. The project focuses on raising awareness about gender issues in agriculture and public policy, with a particular emphasis on introducing gender as a cross-cutting issue in rural credit institutions. The project's main activities include knowledge fairs, implementation of the Policy Advocacy School, and a trainers' training program. These activities reinforce advocacy efforts aimed at developing capacity and promoting public policy-making and implementation in each municipality. The project also publicizes its strategy to increase women's participation and access to credit in rural credit institutions. In the first six months of its second year of implementation, the GAPP Project made significant progress relative to the first year. Members of the Municipal Women's Networks (RMM) have put their improved leadership skills into practice, creating new opportunities for participation and engaging in activities to assert and exercise their rights. In one case, this has included drafting projects on productive initiatives. Men, particularly male members of rural credit institutions, have shown increasing interest in the masculinity work and have expressed their openness to ensuring gender equity in their organizations' operations. Men and women board members are committed to boosting the membership of women and supporting activities to promote equal opportunity for men and women. The project has achieved notable progress in its goal of launching a bold new methodology that integrates women's leadership approach with approaches related to 'masculinity,' in order to increase women's access to resources for agricultural production. Two municipal women's networks (Valladolid and Erandique) have obtained local government funding for agricultural and nonagricultural projects, including a bakery and a pig farm in Erandique, and a poultry farm in Valladolid. The project has also strengthened rural credit institutions (IRC) in the area of gender equity, working in conjunction with ASONOG and CASM. Despite reductions in the amount of capital available to IRCs in the agricultural sector, the project plans to continue its activities to improve women's access to credit and equity in loan terms. The project's progress is reflected in the indicators for its goals and objectives. Indicator P.a, which measures the number of RMM involved in the project whose proposals for obtaining public funding for women's agricultural activities have been approved, has reached 100% progress. Indicator P.b, which measures the number of IRC involved in the project that have increased the percentage of their portfolios that go to loans for women, has also shown progress, although the exact percentage is not specified. The project has partnered with other institutions active in the area, including CASM, CESAL, USAID NEXOS, CDH, CRS, and COCEPRADIL, to foster a cohesive approach to gender and masculinity in activities such as municipal planning and budget, promoting the human right to food, and especially municipal policy-making.