Book Description

Despite the legal and policy foundation of BiH, gender considerations have only marginally been mainstreamed in state and entity policies on rural development or other sectors related to agriculture. At the state level, the Strategic Plan for Rural Development of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2018-2021) addresses support for women as a cross-cutting initiative but fails to fully mainstream gender. Rather, the strategy includes a stand-alone sub-section on gender equality that presents rather superficial analysis of gender disparities in rural areas and includes no strategic guidance. Measures are suggested for “young people/women” in combination and for improving access to business grants, rural loans and agricultural associations. One monitoring indicator measures “women’s participation” in investment programs for agricultural holdings and diversification of rural economy (Strategic Plan for Rural Development of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2018-2021). The inconsistent application of gender mainstreaming to policy development and the very limited capacity of most line ministries to include a gender perspective in their core work contribute to a situation in which gender equality is poorly reflected in state policies that concern agriculture and rural development. Meanwhile, rural areas are marked by women’s poverty, which is linked to their economic dependence, over representation in informal and unpaid work, and the fact that elderly rural women in particular tend not to be covered by the pension system and are often living alone because they are widowed.