The ‘Women Empowerment and Inclusive Governance’ project seeks to strengthen the economic capacity, voice and participation of women in governance in Umuode Community, Nkanu East LGA, Enugu State. This builds on the achievements of the OXFAM Voice project implemented in Umuode from February 2018 to January 2019 aimed at “fostering a sustainable and transformational leadership structure that empowers women to participate in decision making processes in the community’’.

This project aims to consolidate and scale up the outcomes earlier achieved by expanding the project’s reach and building the capacities of more women in leadership and strategic advocacy aimed at promoting women’s access to resources, specifically land for enhanced economic empowerment, thereby reducing their economic vulnerability. A key outcome of this project is to enable women demand and obtain access to land resources for cooperative farming and sustainable income generation. This would reduce their economic vulnerability, enhance their self-reliance, amplify their voices in the community and protection from sexual exploitation and violence.

Key activities intended to drive these outcomes include
i. Capacity building/training workshops on leadership and advocacy to enable the women leaders utilize their space in the Traditional Ruler/Igwe’s Council effectively to speak for themselves. Likewise, more women with leadership potentials would be identified and trained to support advocacy activities.
ii. Voice Roundtable for monthly dialogues led by the women who are members of the Traditional Council with support from DDF to share ideas, address challenges, strategize and coordinate advocacy activities to advance women rights and access to resources in Umuode.
iii. Facilitate the acquisition and access to land resources for cooperative farming and sustainable income generation for women.
iv. Enterprise Development Clinics to host trainings and mentorship for women on local product processing and innovation, marketing strategy, branding, sales, finance, access to credit and market.

Introduction 

Dewdrop Foundation’s 2018 ‘Inclusive Governance’ project reviewed the leadership structure in Umuode community, and a key outcome was the inclusion of two (2) women in the community’s governance structure, namely the Traditional Ruler’s Council and the Town Union. This led to the establishment of the elderly persons’ association known as Umuode Seenagers Association. The Seenagers Association aims to create a safe space for the elderly to freely meet to share knowledge and experiences and learn healthy lifestyles for graceful aging. 

Dewdrop Foundation’s Women Empowerment and Inclusive Governance in Umuode Community aims to consolidate and scale up the outcomes earlier achieved by expanding the project’s reach and building the capacities of more women in leadership and strategic advocacy aimed at promoting women’s access to resources, specifically land for enhanced economic empowerment, thereby reducing their economic vulnerability. A key outcome of this project is to enable women to demand and obtain access to land resources for cooperative farming and sustainable income generation and strengthen their confidence in taking up leadership positions in the community and at all levels. This would reduce their economic vulnerability, enhance their self-reliance, amplify their voices in the community, and protect them from sexual exploitation and violence. 

The project aims to address some of the pressing issues confronting Umuode women, such as limited access to land resources, lack of participation in local governance, and vulnerability to social exploitation and gender-based violence through the creation of a Women Farmers’ Cooperative group where the women will learn relevant skills for modernized agricultural practices and entrepreneurship for sustainable economic dependence and developing leadership skills, the project hopes to empower women to advocate for their rights, improve their livelihoods, and make significant contributions to community development. 

The project successfully empowered women promoted significant community collaborations and initiated significant shifts in Umuode’s leadership structure. 

Project Implementation/Impact and Transformation 

Gender inequality continues to grow by longstanding cultural and social norms that prevent women from seeking opportunities for education or work, establishing their independence, or becoming involved in decision-making.  

This project has empowered our rightsholders to get a statutory and significant leadership role in the community’s governance structure. Most women in the rural community possess the potential to take up active leadership roles while contributing to the growth and development of the community.  

To kick off the project, our team went on an awareness visit to our rightsholder group, the Women’s Welfare Groups in Umuode. The purpose of this initial engagement was to discuss the project’s objectives, scope, implementation strategies, roles and responsibilities of every influential community stakeholder, and the expected outcomes. Additionally, it presented the concept of empowering Umuode women farmers through the establishment of a collective women farmer’s cooperative. A series of advocacy visits to noteworthy community stakeholders and leaders, such as the Town Union Council and the Igwe’s Cabinet, the Community Land Committee was scheduled to take place next. These advocacy visits were essential in gaining the support of traditional and community leaders, guaranteeing a smooth and effective project implementation and ensuring transparency. 

At the women’s awareness creation visit, the rightsholders agreed to collaborate with the men’s farmer’s cooperative group in commercial agricultural practices as this would allow them to learn sustainable practical methods for commercial agricultural practices. It was agreed that the consortium of cooperatives of women farmers would be inaugurated and serve as a platform for women to demand and access land for commercial agricultural practices. The women nominated five (5) women with proven leadership potential to work with the DDF team as community volunteers on the project giving DDF to opportunity to achieve a rightsholder-led approach with implementation thereby ensuring sustainability. 

A project inception meeting was held, and it brought together various stakeholders and key influencers to discuss the project’s scope and implementation strategies. The meeting focused on understanding the needs of the community/rightsholder group and establishing a collaborative framework for project execution. The stakeholders included community leaders, women’s groups, community land committee and key influencers. 

Dewdrop Foundation conducted a focus group discussion with the rightsholder group. The meeting aided in identifying and enlisting existing women leaders and local women with influence and leadership potentials that will be a part of the planned capacity-building training to address the leadership gaps of women, and their project management needs and to build their interest in resource mobilization and income generation through sustainable Agricultural practices using the available resources in the community. The women also identified some of their knowledge gaps where they are required to be trained. They also selected the ones with potential for leadership and politics who would be trained at the planned political and leadership sensitization workshop. 

The establishment of the Voice Roundtable (VRT) was a significant milestone in the project. The VRT serves as a platform for women to voice their concerns, advocate for their rights, and engage in dialogue with community leaders and key stakeholders. The women involved in the VRT have led successful advocacy campaigns against gender-based violence, promoting gender equality, and improving access to resources. They also initiated five advocacies which were adopted and are being implemented in the community.  

Through capacity-building workshops, focus group discussions, and VRT meetings, the rightsholder group (community women) achieved a positive mindset shift for the women and emboldened them to continuously speak up on matters concerning their welfare in the community and seek self-development in their skills as a tool for economic stability to enable them to make useful contributions towards their community growth.  

The rightsholders equipped capacities in leadership exhibited in their sustenance of the Voice Roundtable (VRT) meetings as a platform for experience and knowledge sharing amongst women and peer-to-peer learning on different entrepreneurial transferable skills amongst themselves. The rightsholders (community women) now understand the importance of learning and skills development as one of the tools of self-development, and empowerment. 

The establishment of the women farmers’ cooperative was a critical component of the project. The cooperative allows women to collaborate on farming activities, share resources, and receive training in sustainable agriculture. The cooperative model has improved food security and household incomes, enabling women to achieve economic independence.  

An inaugural meeting was held for the consortium cooperative farmer group to formally inaugurate the consortium Cooperative group of women farmers and enlighten them on some important agricultural practices and necessary guidelines for running a cooperative group successfully. The consortium of cooperatives is made up of three cooperatives namely; IFAD, Ifunanya Cooperative, and Chizaram Cooperative. The guidelines for accessing land as a cooperative group were discussed. The women were trained on VSLA as a means of accessing funds/capital for running sustainable commercial agricultural practices. 

Through advocacy and strategic meetings, DDF achieved the mindset change of the community leaders and stakeholders on the empowerment of women, the community now acknowledges the importance for women to become empowered for economic growth and development and to take up roles in leadership. The community leaders also have shown knee commitment towards supporting the women to participate actively in leadership roles and agricultural practices. 

Putting an end to some obnoxious cultural practices, the Umuode community leaders, key influencers, and land committee understood the role women play in community development through economic empowerment, and approved a suitable site (communal land), for the women farmers’ cooperative. This is one breakthrough of the project as women have never owned land resources in Igbo land but this allocated land will now be owned by Umuode Women Cooperative of Farmers allowing women in the community access to land for commercial agricultural practices and other cooperative activities for income generation and contribution to community development. 

The cooperative groups have significantly boosted the economic status of participating women by improving their agricultural productivity and income levels. This has, in turn, enhanced their bargaining power and influence within the community.  

Through the Voice Roundtable (VRT), women in Umuode are now more actively involved in decision-making processes. The VRT has empowered them to advocate for their rights and participate in leadership, challenging the traditional norms that previously excluded them.  

The advocacy campaigns led by the VRT have raised awareness about gender-based violence, resulting in a noticeable decrease in incidents within the community. This shift in attitudes towards women’s rights is a significant transformation in the social fabric of Umuode. 

The project’s sustainability plan includes the ongoing operation of the Voice Roundtable and the continuous support of cooperative activities. The rightsholders collaborate with the male farmers’ cooperative as advisors and ensure the continuous training of women, the project has laid a strong foundation for sustained empowerment and participation. 

Through strategic advocacy with the community leaders, our rightsholders (community women) were empowered to get a statutory, and significant leadership role in the community’s governance structure.  The community leadership structure allocated two positions for women representatives to sit in at the Traditional ruling cabinet (Igwe’s cabinet) and the Town Union council. This achievement has given women the opportunity to have ample representation in the community leadership structure thereby giving them a voice to amplify their issues and seek solutions. 

Challenges 

Cultural norms: Because of the cultural practice of women not taking leadership roles, some of our rightsholders who had the potential to take on leadership roles were initially hesitant to participate in the capacity training/workshops.  

DDF encountered some difficulties while attempting to change some stakeholders’ gender-biased mindsets and enlighten them on the importance of inclusive leadership structure and women’s participation in commercial agricultural practices through the women’s cooperative group for economic independence and contribution to community growth.  

Lessons Learned 

• DDF has learned the power of a rightsholder-led implementation approach in the project implementation as a tool that ensures no one is left behind everyone is duly carried along and that sustainability of outcomes is achieved. 

• The participation of rightsholders as volunteer leaders in the project implementation process offered DDF valuable insights on effective engagement strategies. We recognized the positive impact of empowering rightsholders to take ownership and drive the project implementation, especially since the project is focused on women. This experience improved DDF’s understanding of how to offer the essential structure, resources, and guidance while enabling rightsholders to lead the project’s execution. 

• DDF has learned the benefit of strategic advocacy and ensuring community leaders, key stakeholders, and influencers in the community are carried along in project implementation. The involvement of community leaders in the implementation of the project ensured a positive change in the community policy and framework to allocate land resources to the Women Cooperative of Farmers and create a supportive environment for the empowerment of women in the community. 

• The project demonstrated the importance of building strong partnerships. Collaborating with community leaders not only granted the project credibility, but it also made activities run more smoothly. Furthermore, involving men as allies and advisors in the empowerment process was critical in gaining widespread community support. 

Conclusion 

The Women Empowerment & Inclusive Governance Project has made significant progress toward improving the lives of women in Umuode. The project’s journey, marked by both challenges and successes, has provided invaluable lessons for future efforts to empower women. The project has laid the groundwork for future progress in gender equality in the community by fostering economic independence, increasing participation in governance, and promoting social change. The lessons learned will serve as the foundation for future empowerment initiatives that are stronger and more effective than before.