How can PR&D Approach Social/Gender Issues in Natural Resource Management?
Participatory research and development activities should facilitate understanding and awareness among researchers and community members alike of social and power relations in the community, and of the differences and inequities regarding the access to, control over, and benefits from natural resources. In participatory approaches to research and development, there is often discussion of working with the ‘community’. However, it is important also to remember that the ‘community’ (or communities) are not homogenous (and ‘community’ itself is not always a clear concept). Communities are made up of these diverse sets of social actors, governed by social and power relations, and various decision-making processes regarding ecosystem management and resource use. This also holds true for the level of the ‘household’, which is a unit made up of diverse individuals.Participatory research processes must aim to involve the diverse social actors, and particularly those most marginalized, in a meani
