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GENDER FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY ASIA PACIFIC REGION GOOD PRACTICE PROJECT MALDIVES Project Name: Post Tsunami Fisheries and Agriculture Rehabilitation Project

The goal of the Programme is to contribute to the restoration of agricultural GDP to levels reached previous to the occurrence of the December 2004 tsunami and return to stable and long-term growth, while improving the livelihood of affected people and reducing their vulnerability to natural disasters. The main objectives are (1) to contribute to the improvement of operating conditions of the fishing fleets and increase the quality of the catches; (2) to contribute to the recovery and improvement of agricultural production in the islands affected by the tsunami. The Programme was developed recognizing that rural women in the Maldives are hindered by a variety of normative barriers that limit their potential and opportunities. The project appraisal emphasised mainstreaming women participation in all programme activities. The program logframe indentified output and outcome level indicators and the program M&E measured the progress of both women and men participation in the program. Overall the Programme is pro-poor and adopts a geographical targeting approach. The 30 islands selected under the programme were based on incidences of poverty and vulnerability of the population and levels of food insecurity. Collecting gender disaggregated data for the outreach training activities was one of the main focuses during the early project intervention. The data was used to specifically target women as project beneficiaries to take leadership and get involved in decision making of agricultural cooperatives, increasing productivity and farm management skills. The programme has demonstrated success in women inclusive extension training. Out of the 2,903 persons trained under the program in both fisheries and agriculture, 51 per cent are women. In the agriculture sector womens participation in the extension training is over 52 per cent. Project management staff underwent gender integrated planning and women leadership training in order to make the project be sensitive to the strategic needs of the women in rural communities. The program indentified sensitizing the program staff I n gender mainstreaming a useful intervention to understand the strategic needs of women and identify innovative ways of addressing the gender disparities, constraints and challenges. The Programme continues to actively support increased partnerships and linkages with and between various stakeholders, including Government institutions and donors to community based organizations. Island councils are close partners of supporting and guiding the programme-initiated cooperatives which is a key vehicle for improving food security and livelihood for the rural communities.