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Abstract
Over the last several decades, participation in producer organizations has become a key
principle of development, enabling people’s empowerment, inclusiveness, and facilitating
democracy. Producer organizations have become crucial actors to provide services to the
rural poor, and women’s participation and leadership in producer organizations has become a
focus of rural and agricultural development efforts. This review paper aims to document the
factors that hinder women’s participation in producer organizations. The review identifies
several factors as major barriers for women’s participation, including: socio-cultural norms;
women’s double burden and triple roles; women’s status, age and previous membership in
organizations; access to assets and resources; educational level; organizations’ rules of entry,
and; legal and policy environment. The paper also provides a review of lessons and good
practice that can be applied by Agricultural Research for Development institutions. The
review identified strategies for strengthening women’s participation in producer
organizations at the individual/household, community/producer organization, and policy
level. The review found that at the individual/household level, strategies to improve
individual capabilities and intra-household relations were crucial for promoting women’s
participation and leadership in producer organizations. Similarly, at the producer
organizational level strategies to ensure that the structures and governance mechanisms are
more gender sensitive, and promote women’s inclusion, are crucial. Equally important are
policies for promoting gender-sensitive producer organizations and specific measures geared
at promoting women’s active participation in producers’ organizations.