Women producers’ dialogue series: mentorship and peer-to-peer learning
In this dialogue women producers shared powerful tools that forest and farm producer organisations can provide women entrepreneurs and leaders through mentorship and learning opportunities.
Two women farmers in a seed bank, which stores farm-managed indigenous seeds, in Karatu District (Photo: Roshni Lodhia/Panos/IIED)
As one of the implementing partners of the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF), IIED is hosting an online dialogue series for women-led or majority women forest and farm producer organisations (FFPOs).
The aim of the dialogues is to create a space for women producers, entrepreneurs and leaders to connect with each other, share and exchange experiences and ideas, and support and inspire one another around women’s empowerment in their own contexts.
The first dialogue unpacked entrepreneurial and leadership mentoring and peer-to-peer learning as valuable approaches for providing guidance and support, networking opportunities, skill development, confidence building and accountability to self-set goals and commitments for aspiring women entrepreneurs and leaders.
Speakers
- Kata Wagner (moderator), researcher, IIED
- Varsha Mehta, independent researcher, India
- Rose Pélagie Masso, African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF), Cameroon
- Lucia Gerbaldo, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
- Dunia Baroud El Khoury, Women’s Association of Deir El Ahmar (WADA), Lebanon
Event coverage
The dialogue began with an introduction to three initiatives:
- The Manager ni School, an initiative of India’s Self-Employed Women's Association, which aims to help its many women microentrepreneur members develop leadership and business skills. Read a case study on the SEWA Manager Ni School
- The Women Leadership Circles in Agriculture & Natural Resource Management, an initiative implemented by the African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF) in Cameroon, providing peer-to-peer mentoring for advocacy leadership. Read a case study on the leadership circles
- The capacity development work of the Women’s Association of Deir El Ahmar (WADA), member of the WeCaN Nurturing Community of Knowledge Practice for Women network in dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems.
In group discussions the participants collectively generated a range of recommendations on how women producer organisations, businesses and leaders could be supported.
The solutions that mentorship and peer-to-peer learning services offer to address common challenges for women entrepreneurs are shown in the infographic below, designed to be used by FFPOs and their support partners in advocating for and developing such services.
Click on the image to expand it. This infographic shows the solutions offered by mentorship and peer-to-peer learning for women entrepreneurs and leaders. You can also view the infographic on IIED's Flickr channel
Watch the dialogue recording
Watch a recording of this dialogue below or on IIED's YouTube channel.
Additional resources
Strengthening the role of women in agriculture and natural resource management, Rose Pélagie Masso (2023), Project report
Empowering producer women through peer-learning and mentorship, Varsha Mehta (2023), Project report
Contact
Kata Wagner ([email protected]), researcher (forests and prosperity), IIED's Natural Resources research group
