Project brochure: Economic empowerment of women through forest solutions

Economic Empowerment of Women through Forest Solutions is a 30 months’ action research project funded by International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada and implemented by a consortium of ForestAction Nepal, The Himalayan Grassroots Women’s Natural Resource Management Association (HIMAWANTI), Association of Family Forest Owner’s, Nepal (AFFON) and Federation of Forest-based Industry and Trade, Nepal (FenFIT-Nepal).

The project aims to develop business models and scalable solutions to increase women’s access and control over forest resources and forest-based enterprises; enabling them to make economic decisions.

The main goal of the project is to fill the knowledge gap pertinent to women’s economic empowerment through improved management of private, leasehold and community forestry regimes in Nepal.

i. To understand constraints and opportunities for women’s economic empowerment in a forested landscape in Nepal by undertaking gender and intersectional analysis of policies, institutions, and practices in the forestry sector.

ii. To generate innovative approaches and strategies that increase and sustain women’s income and economic resources through enhanced collective agency, entrepreneurial capacities, and transformative power relations.

iii. Develop and pilot inclusive models of sustainable, low-carbon, nature-based solutions through forest management and forest-based businesses.

iv. Contribute to an enabling policy and institutional environment that supports women-led forest management, trade and enterprises and communicate knowledge products to wider stakeholders and epistemic communities.

This brochure by the project describes the approaches the team is taking  in more detail, and is amply illustrated with photographs from the project’s localities.