Training for Rural
Development:
Agricultural and Enterprise Skills for Women
Smallholders
Women from a self-help group in Tamil
Nadu, India, spoke of the huge impacts the training and social
network had on their lives.
Project microsite: www.skillsdevelopment.org/t4rd
Project Date: January - December 2009
Agriculture is a key focus of the rural
development agenda and women now make up the majority of the
agricultural workforce in developing countries.
In the face of increasingly volatile
agricultural conditions, due to the impacts of climate change, for
example, it is important that the rural poor and particularly women
are equipped with the skills to cope and adapt to ensure food
security and improve income levels. With this in mind, we
wanted to explore the type of training that can help women
smallholders to be more productive and adaptable.
Our research aimed to look at successful ways
of addressing common problems and identified practical ways to
overcome barriers to training for women smallholders, a neglected
area in this sphere of research. To answer this, we conducted
the research in 3 stages: a literature review, a review of existing
international projects and finally, we collected information from
identified case studies in the field in India and Ghana, which were
synergised into a
final report.
Please visit the project microsite at www.skillsdevelopment.org/t4rd
for further information, the findings from the research and CSD's
next steps with regards Training for Rural Development.