Experiences of Successful Incremental Approaches to Women's Economic Empowerment in South Asia
Linda Jones*

Sustainable development requires the involvement of both women and men in the process of economic growth and poverty alleviation. This means the equal participation of women in all spheres – at the household, community and national level – with access to resources, opportunities and information, control over resources, and decision-making authority.

Depending on the context, breakthrough approaches may involve the identification of positive deviants, the development of women-to-women networks and associations, or mainstreaming of women into commercial value chains. Incremental change might be the upgrading of training programmes, better work conditions or improved policy environments for formalisation of businesses. Work supported by CIDA and other donors in South Asia – and particularly Pakistan – have resulted in both breakthrough and incremental change. 

My own experiences working with remote and/or highly disadvantaged women in Pakistan, as well as neighbouring countries in South and Central Asia with the Aga Khan Foundation, MEDA and as a consultant will be shared. I analyse the contribution of various incremental approaches to women’s empowerment and sustained change. The paper will focus on:

1)   Women’s associations/collectives

  • Case example: Women’s organisations in Gilgit-Baltistan and their contribution to women’s economic and social empowerment over 30 years (AKRSP)

2)   Access to inputs and other resources including finance

  • Case example: Tribal women dairy producers in Gujarat (AKRSP-India)
  • Very poor women dairy producers in Bangladesh (CARE)

3)   Skills, business and vocational training

  • Female extensionists and horticulture development in Afghanistan (MEDA)
  • Agricultural production and processing in Gilgit- Baltistan (AKRSP)

4)   Enterprise development and business start-ups

  • Handicraft producers and sales agents in Afghanistan (Zardozi)
  • Women’s markets in Gilgit-Baltistan – ‘seeding’ the market (AKRSP)
* Dr. Linda Jones is currently leading the launch and set-up of women’s leadership programming at the Coady International Institute. Prior to her work at the Coady Institute, she was Senior Technical Adviser for Market Development at Aga Khan Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland, Technical Director at MEDA, and a consultant to a number of leading agencies. Dr. Jones has extensive implementation experience in Asia and Africa, with main areas of technical expertise in pro-poor market/enterprise development, women’s economic empowerment, the nexus of gender and M4P/MD, and agricultural value chain development. She holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and a post-degree diploma in Peace and Conflict Studies.