Naved, Ruchira Tabassum

This report examines the outcome of two PRA exercises conducted by SCF (US) for Plan International in the villages of Laxmipur and Dummi in Bangladesh. The paper describes the purpose of the exercises which included analysing socio-economic information in the communities, understanding the problems faced by the villagers, and exploring possible solutions to the problems defined by the villagers (women, men, adolescents and children) using community efforts. The authors recommend that PLAN should continue with a participatory approach to design a programme on the basis of the PRA.

The present study explores the intrahousehold impact of transfer of modern agricultural technology from a gender perspective. The data suggest that in comparison with the individual approach, group based programs targeted towards women have a great potential to address gender relations within the household and society. It is evident that in male-dominated societies where women have extremely limited access to internal or external support networks targeting programs to women as individuals without providing an alternative source of support is bound to fail in its gender goals.