ASSESSMENT OF THE ROLE OF GENDER IN COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Of The Study

Gender    refers    to    the    socially    constructed    roles, behaviours,  activities,  and  attributes  that  a  given society considers   appropriate   for   men   and   women.   Gender concept  simply  refers  to  the  socially-determined  and culturally specific differences between women and men  as opposed to the biological determined differences. Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary 6th edition sees gender  as  the  fact  of  being  male  or  female;  gender specific issue is connected with women only or with men only. Reeves   and   Baden   (2000)   sees   gender   as   the “socially  determined  ideas  and  practices  of  what  it  is to be   female   or   male;   these   ideas   and   practices   are sanctioned and reinforced by a host of cultural, political and  economic  institutions  including  household,  legal  and governance structure, markets and religion. Furthermore, gender  could  also  be  seen  as  socio-economic  variables which    aid    the    analysis    of    roles,    responsibilities, constraints  and  opportunities  of  both  men  and  women.Gender  which  is  commonly  used  interchangeably  with ‘sex’ within the academic fields of cultural studies, gender studies and the social sciences in general; often refers to purely   social   rather   than   biological   differences,   this means    that    ‘gender    roles’    are    formed    through socialization.    Meanwhile,  the  concept  gender  is   an important  analytical  tool  in  the  planning  management, monitoring  and  evaluation  of  development  programs  or cooperative   projects   which   requires   that   women   are considered  in  relation  to  men  in  a  socio-cultural  setting and not as an isolated group. Gender  roles  focus  on  household  and  community roles  because  gender  roles  are  different  in  any  society. This  is  because  in  each  society  there  are  functions  of what  women and men of that society are expected to do in their adult life.  Since gender roles are formed through socialization,  children  are  socialized  to  internalize  these roles;  girls  and  boys  are  prepared  for  their  different  but specific roles.  Gender roles can be defined as the roles that  are  played  by  both  women  and  men  which  are  not determined   by   biological   factors   but   by   the   socio-economic and cultural environment or situation.  Men and women  are  also  characterized  by  different  roles  which mean that men take the lead in productive activities, and women in reproductive activities, where the latter include the  reproduction  of  the  family  and  even  of  society  itself.  Obviously,  women  and  men’s  roles  and  responsibilities are separate but they complement one another. UNDP (1995) opined that gender is an economic issue as well as a social issue, in fact more so in Africa than in any  other  Region  and  that  both  men  and  women  play substantial  economic  roles,  notably  in  Agriculture  and in the