Q&A series- Judith Irene Nagasha: Integrating gender in livestock value chains

Judith has a rich hands-on experience in development projects with a bias in gender perspectives in the livestock value chain, climate change and water resource management. To realise impact, she has applied the Theory of Change (ToC) tool in her current AgriFoSe2030 project whose aim is to build the capacity of women smallholder livestock farmers to produce safe milk and milk products, adopt value addition and access to sustainable markets. Findings from her research projects have been disseminated at the local community, national and international platforms.

Briefly describe the project

The project aims at empowering women in Western Uganda to produce and market safe milk products, adopt value addition, and have access to sustainable markets which enhances income. This will lead to improved livelihoods in smallholder households in Kiruhura District, Uganda.

What gap(s) did you identify that prompted you to start the project?

There were several reasons that prompted me to venture in this project. The communities where the project is being implemented is a patriarchal society. Men oversee the household milk produced and do not give women enough milk for value addition. Additionally, there are no finances for women to purchase milk for value addition. Women in this community are glued to traditional methods of value addition. They lack skills, technology, and infrastructure to do milk value addition. And their other challenges are access to markets. These include lack of linkages with private partners in marketing milk and milk products, lack of stronger lobbying for milk markets and lack of linkages with the Uganda Bureau of Standards.

How has the project been received so far by people in the community?

The project has been embraced by both men and women after sensitizing them to use ToC and the so called five domain gender frameworks, initially developed by the USAID (United States Agency for International Development). The objectives of the trainings (ToC and gender framework) are intended to change the mindset of the community about gender roles in dairy production, especially where the local culture places men as having the dominant role in dairy production.

What are some of the challenges you encountered, and how you are you overcoming them?

Accessing women was a major challenge but this is gradually changing after sensitising the men and encouraging participation of both women and men. Women in this community are interested in the value addition, but they have different challenges in accessing milk that is controlled by their husbands and some lack access due to their level of income.

Community members of the Kikatsi sub-county at a sensitisation workshop about the project. Photo by Dr. Asaph Tinyefuza

Can you share some key achievements and learnings from the project?

Women’s agency is crucial in the value addition processes in this community. For any development and empowerment project to be implemented in this community, one must work within the communities’ cultural context, beliefs, and values.

In addition, the early responses to the project training suggest that if the resources are generated by women’s value addition activities, and are used transparently within the household, men eventually will be happy and there will be no cause to feel insecure.

How is the project improving the community – socially and economically?

The project is improving good household gender relations. So far, it has led to the realisation that dairy value-added products can bring additional income than raw milk. Surprisingly, some men have shown interest in investing in these products especially in months when milk prices are considerably low. In some households, there is readiness to drop some cultural beliefs that subjugate women which has led to an overwhelming inclination to see women perform productive work which will contribute to the family finances.

Women are also ready to form groups to collectively gain access to markets for their products and are even selling and buying milk from their spouses for their value addition products.

Is this project scalable to other parts of Uganda?

The project is scalable to other parts of Uganda with similar ecological and socio-economic settings.