Gender and non-governmental organizations

The link between women and environmental management is becoming increasingly recognized in sustainable development. However, this connection tends to be underplayed when environmental issues are studied within a general context, with negative repercussions on effective development in local communities. It is for this reason that non-governmental agencies are currently targeting women in their development goals, and that this section of the paper is focused on the role of women and NGOs in managing the environment. Specific consideration is given to women's perceptions of environmental degradation, access to fuelwood and other trees and countermeasures for environmental degradation, based principally on information provided by the 30 women involved in the group discussions, and on information from the questionnaire survey in 1993. These women are mainly farmers cultivating cassava and maize and processing agricultural produce into gari (dried grated cassava) and agblema (cassava dough). The women are mobilized by local non-governmental organizations for other economic activities, including agroforestry and fish and snail farming organised at the Yensi Centre, the field headquarters of the NGO Ghana Rural Reconstruction Movement (GhRRM). In addition, women are encouraged and supported in productive activities aimed at enhancing women's productive and earning capabilities by the 31st December Women's Movement, a women's NGO.