Tools of gender analysis: A guide to field methods for bringing gender into sustainable resource management

This report presents an overview of gender considerations in development and suggests analytical tools for development professionals in government, bilateral, international organisations and NGOs to increase the effectiveness and sustainability of project activities. Tools for gender analysis reveal how gender differences define people’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities in resource management. The tools discussed include PRA methods as well as more conventional techniques. They offer ways of gathering data and analysing gender as a variable in household and community organisation for natural resource management. Each tool is illustrated with an application from ECOGEN research. The PRA tools discussed include wealth ranking, focus-group discussions, venn (or chapati) diagrams of village institutions, resource mapping, seasonal calendars and matrices. A new initiative, a Gender Analysis Matrix (GAM), was developed to test and to generate awareness of the impact of specific projects on gender roles and responsibilities.