Women's Empowerment by Direct Meal Supply in Kindergartens

Background Information to the Cases:

In September 2018, the “Pilot Project for the Nutrition Improvement of Preschool Students in Xiangxi” (hereinafter referred to as the “project”) was officially launched by WFP. Supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Areas of the People's Republic of China and organized by WFP, it is an innovative pilot one and aims to improve the nutrition of rural preschool children. Longshan and Yongshun Counties, two poverty-strickenareas in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Province, China, were designated to be the first pilot counties in China in 2018.

There are two intervention measures in the project: Firstly, children have free access to nutritionalmeals in the relevant kindergartens so as to improve their nutrition and develop children’s bodies; Secondly, the project helps poor households to establish a stable procurement chain and encourages small holders to participate in the direct supply of meals.

The project is committed to establishing a stable procurement chain for the assisted poor households and encouraging smallholders to participate in the direct meal supply in kindergartens. One result is that the project improves women's empowerment. The survey found that the project has improved the women’s participation in agricultural production and their income. After joining the project, female contracted farmers have access to the means of production and development opportunities. The project assistance has improved the status of women in the family.

Successful Practices:

Based on the selection conditions, farmers are engaged in a certain scale of crop planting and livestock and poultry raising activities before and after signing the contract. Usually, it is the men that enter into the contracts with the kindergartens, but women shoulder the responsibilities of fulfilling the contracts. Most of women are over the age of 45, while a small number of them are young women who take care of children at home.

As the project management office (PMO) provides seeds, the planted varieties by farmers have been increased. Previously, most women mainly took care of children and did housework at home. The project enriches women's daily activities to a certain extent. Because most families were self-sufficient and the surplus vegetables they planted were rarely sold in the market, many of the vegetables turned out to be rotten in the field. After signing the agreement, the PMO will provide farmers with 9 varieties of vegetable seeds and organic fertilizer free of charge, which not only reduces the farmers’ investment expenditure on agricultural materials, but also increases the diversification of vegetables. At the same time, by participating in the project and signing contracts with kindergartens, farmers can sell vegetables more easily, the sales market is also widened, and the income of farmers has been improved to a certain extent. The income of some farmers that provide agricultural products to kindergartens is as high as one-third of the total household income.

Wang Xiaoqin is a 31-year-old female. She graduated from a junior high school. There are four people in her family. Her husband did some gig work. She has two sons, one in grade three and the other in the Landian Central Kindergarten. The family have planted threemu of rice paddies, threemu of rape and twomu of vegetables. Now, she spends most time on agricultural production at home, and supplies vegetables to the kindergarten once a week. As her family is ten kilometers away from the kindergarten, the vegetables are generally transported by tricycle. Previously, they mainly took care of their children at home full-time. Now, after signing the contract, she put more time into vegetable production and sends vegetables to kindergartens regularly. After the harvest, vegetables can be sent to kindergartens in time, which reduces a lot of losses, stabilizes the market enriches local farmers’ life, and increases income. Before signing the agreement, her husband is the breadwinner. Now, she earns a lot of income by supplying vegetables to the kindergarten, which is mainly used for covering living expenses, and the living standard has been greatly improved. Because she can earn money at home, she has a great sense of achievement and self-confidence. The happiness index has also been greatly improved and she can live with more dignity.

Achievements:

For many contracted farmers, the income from providing agricultural products to kindergartens accounts for a large proportion of the total family income, and the participation in the project has a great impact on the family. The survey results show that the income of farmers in the intervention group at the end of the project is 2,937.14 yuan higher than that in the base line period, with the income increased by 80.85%; During the intervention period, the income of farmers in the intervention group increased by 689.65 yuan, an increase of 10.5%.

At the same time, the PMO will cooperate with the local agricultural bureau to provide farmers with some agricultural technology training, including the knowledge about planting and pest control. In this way, local farmers have improved their agricultural production skills, especially those of many young women. Women's enthusiasm for agricultural production has been mobilized and the expansion of planting scale has been promoted. With the increase of agricultural planting, many women have also expanded the planting scale and become new professional farmers. Some women have joined agricultural cooperatives to start businesses, contracted more land, carried out diversified management, and gradually become the owner of household farms. During busy farming seasons, they will hire some idle labor forces in the village, hence helping more villagers be employed and increase their income. In addition, the PMO also cooperates with the local women's federations to carry out some activities for women, such as nutrition training for women with children at home. This kind of training can help children grow healthily, and increase women's knowledge and skills about nutrition, which lay a good foundation for women to undertake related work in the future, such as maternity matrons.

The project has promoted women's employment, increased their income, enhanced the purchasing power of the family, diversified the family's diet, improved the living standard, improved women's status and voice in the family to a certain extent, and increased their sense of happiness and dignity.

By Bi Jieying; Huang Zhenjie; Gu Dongdong; Chen Zhigang