Women’s development organisations in rural areas of Tunisia: rethinking support to strengthen their autonomy

Women’s development organisations in rural areas of Tunisia were first created in the early 2010s, since when their number has increased steadily. These organisations have received wide-ranging support from public and non-governmental development actors, which has helped them develop but has also co...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hanafi Anissa, Mazhoud Houda, Chemak Fraj, Faysse Nicolas, Kharroubi Fatma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: EDP Sciences 2024-01-01
Series:Cahiers Agricultures
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cahiersagricultures.fr/articles/cagri/full_html/2024/01/cagri240075/cagri240075.html
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841557570628616192
author Hanafi Anissa
Mazhoud Houda
Chemak Fraj
Faysse Nicolas
Kharroubi Fatma
author_facet Hanafi Anissa
Mazhoud Houda
Chemak Fraj
Faysse Nicolas
Kharroubi Fatma
author_sort Hanafi Anissa
collection DOAJ
description Women’s development organisations in rural areas of Tunisia were first created in the early 2010s, since when their number has increased steadily. These organisations have received wide-ranging support from public and non-governmental development actors, which has helped them develop but has also compromised their autonomy, i.e. their capacity to fix objectives on their own and to contact other actors only when needed to achieve their objectives. The present study analyses the development trajectory and autonomy of women’s development organisations in Siliana Governorate. Most of the activities of the nine organisations studied concern the collective production and marketing of a variety of products related to animal breeding, food, and handicrafts. Since their creation, most organisations have increased their number of members and their range of activities. In a workshop in which presidents of these organisations, their members, and administrative support staff took part, participants pointed out that the members’ technical and management skills, their willingness and ability to organise collective action play a key role in ensuring the autonomy of the organisations. Analysing the autonomy of women’s development organisations − particularly in close collaboration with their members − is a complementary approach to the one focused on solving the often-material constraints that hamper their development. This complementary approach will help focus on how to strengthen their capacity to be in the driver’s seat in defining their goals and strategies and to become fully-fledged partners of support organisations.
format Article
id doaj-art-8d72fdbbdfde48889713ab900ae0d15c
institution Kabale University
issn 1166-7699
1777-5949
language English
publishDate 2024-01-01
publisher EDP Sciences
record_format Article
series Cahiers Agricultures
spelling doaj-art-8d72fdbbdfde48889713ab900ae0d15c2025-01-06T11:04:08ZengEDP SciencesCahiers Agricultures1166-76991777-59492024-01-01333610.1051/cagri/2024031cagri240075Women’s development organisations in rural areas of Tunisia: rethinking support to strengthen their autonomyHanafi Anissa0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2966-4735Mazhoud Houda1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0892-0672Chemak Fraj2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5164-5410Faysse Nicolas3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5683-8473Kharroubi Fatma4Institut National Agronomique de Tunisie, Université de CarthageInstitut National de Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie, Université de CarthageInstitut National de Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie, Université de CarthageInstitut National Agronomique de Tunisie, Université de CarthageCommissariat Régional de Développement Agricole de SilianaWomen’s development organisations in rural areas of Tunisia were first created in the early 2010s, since when their number has increased steadily. These organisations have received wide-ranging support from public and non-governmental development actors, which has helped them develop but has also compromised their autonomy, i.e. their capacity to fix objectives on their own and to contact other actors only when needed to achieve their objectives. The present study analyses the development trajectory and autonomy of women’s development organisations in Siliana Governorate. Most of the activities of the nine organisations studied concern the collective production and marketing of a variety of products related to animal breeding, food, and handicrafts. Since their creation, most organisations have increased their number of members and their range of activities. In a workshop in which presidents of these organisations, their members, and administrative support staff took part, participants pointed out that the members’ technical and management skills, their willingness and ability to organise collective action play a key role in ensuring the autonomy of the organisations. Analysing the autonomy of women’s development organisations − particularly in close collaboration with their members − is a complementary approach to the one focused on solving the often-material constraints that hamper their development. This complementary approach will help focus on how to strengthen their capacity to be in the driver’s seat in defining their goals and strategies and to become fully-fledged partners of support organisations.https://www.cahiersagricultures.fr/articles/cagri/full_html/2024/01/cagri240075/cagri240075.htmlautonomous organisationsincome generationtunisiarural women's organisations
spellingShingle Hanafi Anissa
Mazhoud Houda
Chemak Fraj
Faysse Nicolas
Kharroubi Fatma
Women’s development organisations in rural areas of Tunisia: rethinking support to strengthen their autonomy
Cahiers Agricultures
autonomous organisations
income generation
tunisia
rural women's organisations
title Women’s development organisations in rural areas of Tunisia: rethinking support to strengthen their autonomy
title_full Women’s development organisations in rural areas of Tunisia: rethinking support to strengthen their autonomy
title_fullStr Women’s development organisations in rural areas of Tunisia: rethinking support to strengthen their autonomy
title_full_unstemmed Women’s development organisations in rural areas of Tunisia: rethinking support to strengthen their autonomy
title_short Women’s development organisations in rural areas of Tunisia: rethinking support to strengthen their autonomy
title_sort women s development organisations in rural areas of tunisia rethinking support to strengthen their autonomy
topic autonomous organisations
income generation
tunisia
rural women's organisations
url https://www.cahiersagricultures.fr/articles/cagri/full_html/2024/01/cagri240075/cagri240075.html
work_keys_str_mv AT hanafianissa womensdevelopmentorganisationsinruralareasoftunisiarethinkingsupporttostrengthentheirautonomy
AT mazhoudhouda womensdevelopmentorganisationsinruralareasoftunisiarethinkingsupporttostrengthentheirautonomy
AT chemakfraj womensdevelopmentorganisationsinruralareasoftunisiarethinkingsupporttostrengthentheirautonomy
AT fayssenicolas womensdevelopmentorganisationsinruralareasoftunisiarethinkingsupporttostrengthentheirautonomy
AT kharroubifatma womensdevelopmentorganisationsinruralareasoftunisiarethinkingsupporttostrengthentheirautonomy