Women and the Cochabamba regional development project

This report provides background information on the project, with emphasis on the integration of women into the final project design. The report begins by describing the context of the project, as well as the socioeconomic status of families in the project area, which are classified in three groups: subsistence farm families, cash market farm families, and rural entrepreneur families. Data are then presented on family labor cycles, family migration, women"s roles in coca production, and community social organizations. Next, the report identifies women"s special needs and constraints and presents the recommendations made to USAID/B by a gender specialist for integrating gender considerations into the Project Paper. It is argued that women are essential to the success of the project because family income is generated by both women and men, and economic decisionmaking is shared between wives and husbands; the project should reflect these shared responsibilities in its objectives and strategies. Final sections discusses the extent to which the gender specialist"s recommendations were and were not integrated into the Project Paper, as well as ways to enhance the role of the gender specialist on a project planning team.