Zambia is a highly patriarchal and conservative country. Research shows systemic barriers to women's active participation across sectors, especially in the livestock and rangeland management subsectors, which tend to be male-dominated.
During the gender and leadership training conducted in Village Action Groups (VAGs) in Simalaha Conservancy in Kazungula and Mwandi districts in Western province in March and September 2025, suggests that women are still excluded in actively participating and accessing equitable benefits in livestock management and cooperative leadership due to several barriers such as social cultural practices, low literacy levels among women, traditional gender roles and responsibilities, lack of support from intimate partners and family, lack of gender sensitive policies and many more.
The social and cultural assessments conducted during the training revealed that both men and women own livestock, although men own highly commercialised livestock. For example, women own small livestock, such as chickens and goats, primarily for consumption. However, access to resources such as land, financial services, and leadership opportunities favours men over women in various ways. It was further established that men are dominant in decision-making at the household and community levels; this pattern is particularly evident in community governance structures.
In rural parts of any country, Zambia inclusive, women represent two-thirds of the poor livestock keepers and contribute to most of the day-to-day livestock management, preparation and processing, marketing and selling of livestock produce (FAO, 2025). Due to social cultural practices, women have substantially less control over the income generated than men. Therefore, it is imperative to train community governance structures, such as Village Action Groups (VAGs), Agri-hubs, and grazing/herding committees, to address gender inequalities in livestock and rangeland management.
Further, to address gender inequalities, the training employed a gender-transformative approach to women’s leadership empowerment in natural resource management. The main aim of the training was to equip both women and men with self and collective leadership skills, and socio-emotional competencies to enable them (men, women & youth) to equitably manage natural resources for the benefit of the community at large.
The trainings targeted over 300 men and women from VAGs, grazing committees, and Agri-hub cooperatives, using learner-centred, participatory methodologies that encourage dialogue, knowledge exchange, and practical application of gender-responsive approaches in sustainable land management and grazing systems.
One of the women farmers, Mulele Monde, was elated to be part of the gender training on social norms in the community. Ms Monde explained men dominance in the livestock subsector in Mwandi district was evident. “It’s evident that women’s involvement in livestock management is less and, in some quarters, non-existent,” she stated.
Another female farmer, Carol Lubinda from Simalaha VAG in Kazungula District, stated that the power dynamics between men and women still reflect a gender disparity in livestock and rangeland management. Ms. Lubinda acknowledged that the training provided an opportunity to address the critical gender dynamics impacting the farmer community. This notion was also confirmed by a male farmer, Kennedy Pumba Njekwa, from Kakulwani VAG, who affirms that the training helps change farmers' mindsets as they engage in livestock and rangeland management.
In hindsight, the training provides a glimmer of hope for the farming communities in Mwandi and Kazungula districts.
IKI Growing Greener Gender Focal Point and National Policy Advisor, Doubt Chibeya, explained that the training was necessary because it focused on navigating gender dynamics in livestock and rangeland management, which contributes to the project's success. “One of the outcomes of the training was to facilitate social norm transformation as part of ongoing efforts to promote equal benefit sharing through active participation of both men and women,” Mr. Chibeya said.
Gender Specialist and Consultant, Samantha Munang’andu, observed that the few women participating in community governance structures require capacity-building to enable them to make meaningful contributions and to equitably benefit from the resources. “The need for constant community engagement, sensitization and follow-up programmes to enable transformation of attitudes, as social behavioural change is a gradual process,” Ms Munang’andu further emphasized.
GIZ expressed gratitude to the Peace Parks Foundation, through the Simalaha Community Conservancy Acting Conservancy Manager, Ms. Catherine Mathatha, and her team, for supporting the training team throughout the conservancy.
The training was supported by the Growing Greener Project, implemented by GIZ in collaboration with the Peace Parks Foundation (PPF) and the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development in Southern Africa (CCARDESA).
The Growing Greener (GG) project endeavours to restore degraded landscapes, promote sustainable livestock and rangeland management policies, and integrate gender considerations, as key to Natural Resource management efforts.
The author works as a Principal Agricultural Information Officer at the National Agricultural Information Services (NAIS)
