What FTA does

FTA prioritizes a transformative approach to gender equality by focusing on structural barriers and drivers of change in tree-based and forested landscapes, and how these affect men’s and women’s capabilities to control assets and resources, value and distribute unremunerated labor, and meaningfully participate in decision-making at the household and community levels. The aim is to better understand the complexity of these barriers and develop options to dismantle them.

FTA gender research focuses on how a wide range of changes in forest and tree-based landscapes – such as the development of markets, climate change, migration, expansion of agriculture, and interventions in the name of conservation and development – affect and are influenced by women and men.

FTA considers how gender intersects with other factors of social differentiation, such as age, socioeconomic status or ethnicity, to shape these processes. FTA generates evidence and proposes options to address the structural and institutional factors that constrain young men’s and women’s participation in forest management, tree and forest product value chains and non-farm entrepreneurial activities. It also focuses on the aspirations, interests, skills and knowledge of young men and women, and their relation to tree-based livelihood activities.

The research contributes to the development of tools, approaches, and measures that can support young men’s and women’s capacities, interests, and opportunities in natural resource management.

This way, findings from FTA’s gender research help to safeguard women’s rights, combat gender injustice and equitably expand opportunities for both men and women in rural landscapes. FTA aligns its activities with the Sustainable Development Goals, and aims to contribute to a global vision of gender equality and women’s empowerment.