Voices from the rainforest

This year for International Women's Day, Bioversity has collected stories that inspire progress. Two Malaysian women, Jaliah and Angeline, share their experiences in this blog post.

Recognizing that women and men have different knowledge, skills, practices and access related to native fruit trees and markets for their products, a gender research component was developed within the context of Bioversity’s Gender Research Fellowship Programme to examine these issues and strengthen women’s economic opportunities.

Value addition and sale of native fruit tree products and agro-tourism initiatives were supported to promote local livelihoods while conserving native fruit trees. In what follows, two women participants—Jaliah and Angeline—share their experience as participants in these research activities and interventions.

Jaliah

“My name is Jaliah and I come from the village of Bungai, near Miri, in Sarawak, Malaysia. My family is involved in farming. One of the traditional species of mango that we grow is mempelam (Mangifera petandra), which is very suitable for pickling.

During a fruit tree conservation project led by the Department of Agriculture, Malaysia and Department of Agriculture, Sarawak and an international research organization [Bioversity International], we were introduced to new mempelam pickling techniques that would help us integrate into markets for native fruit tree products and increase our income. However, it was very difficult to obtain enough raw materials for pickling. The orchards are in the forest, far away from the house, and usually men are the ones who harvest the fruits.

To learn more about how different groups of women and men know, use and benefit from native fruit trees, the team of researchers divided us into four groups: older men, older women, younger men and older men. I was in the older women’s group. Each group participated in many activities, such as four cell analysis, value chain mapping, rapid market appraisals, Venn diagrams and timeline exercises, and then presented its work to all participants.

It was during this presentation that we [women] realized that, while there are a lot of mangoes produced during the fruiting season, men were collecting and selling these straight from the orchards without us knowing! Now that we are aware of what is happening, my friends and I have negotiated with the men the purchase of the young mangoes they collect and we are able to produce more pickle products. This will help us increase the income we can earn from selling the pickle we make of this traditional mango species.

Since the discussions we had with the men during the research activities, men have also become more supportive of our wish to be more economically active.

During the value chain mapping exercise, I expressed that we face a problem finding places to sell our pickled mangoes. We had never gone outside our village to sell anything before. The research team guided us in a follow-up exercise which they called rapid market appraisal, where we met prospective buyers outside of our village and negotiated potential product sales with them. It was an amazing experience and we now see that mango pickle has more potential to help us generate income and improve our quality of life than we had previously thought!”

Angeline

“My name is Angeline and I am from the village of Kakeng, near Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak in East Malaysia. I come from a family of farmers. We grow pepper, rice and fruits such as rambutans (Nephelium lappaceum), mangoes (Mangifera indica), durians (Durio zibethinus) and langsat (Lansium domesticum) among others. Most of the fruits are grown in an agroforestry system, among the other crops we cultivate.

Lately, through a fruit tree conservation project, there has been an interest in introducing ‘agro-tourism’ activities in our village. This is partly to sustain our native fruit trees, which are at risk of being cut down by certain people, especially younger men, who want to make fast income and who do not see that, alive, our trees have economic potential.

The ‘agro-tourism’ activity would open up our village to outsiders, with whom we will be able to share our biodiversity while earning some income. We believe that this additional income will give us all more reason to conserve our forests by realizing that, just by being there and being appreciated by tourists, they have economic value. I hope that from this agro-tourism project, our village will prosper, we will earn more and our village will make its way on the international map.

Research carried out within this project gave us the opportunity to voice our concerns and aspirations. We were separated into four groups—as older women, younger women, older men and younger men—so that we would all have equal chance to express ourselves and feel comfortable speaking freely. With the exception of the younger men’s group that benefits from short-term income from timber, the groups felt that the conservation of the forest is important for our future generations.

The research illustrated the need to mobilize the younger generation in conservation activities, especially young men who had visibly different aspirations for the forest than the rest of the villagers. Considering the influential position of the men in the village, involving older men who are active in the village council, fostering dialogue among the generations and genders, and educating young men and women, who are the future custodians of the forest, will be essential for ensuring the conservation of our precious forest resources.”

Bioversity International with key partners leads a UNEP/GEF funded project on ‘Conservation and Sustainable Use of Cultivated and Wild Tropical Fruit Diversity: Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods, Food Security and Ecosystem Services’ in four countries.

In Sarawak, Malaysia, Bioversity collaborates with the Department of Agriculture, Malaysia and the Department of Agriculture, Sarawak to foster an improved understanding of and appreciation for native fruit tree species and the ecological and economic benefits they confer.

Blog post by Faridah Aini Muhammad, Bioversity International Gender Research Fellow; Department of Agriculture, Malaysia.

Bioversity’s Gender Research Fellowship Programme is funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry.

Photo: Young women participate in a resource mapping exercise. Credit: Department of Agriculture Malaysia/H.Husin