CRS may also be the one to develop longer-term development projects in the
area so as to address more systemic problems facing residents of the zone.
5. Where income generation and employment are feasible livelihood
strategies, women and men have equal access to appropriate income-
earning opportunities. (SPHERE Food security – Livelihoods Standard 2:
Income and employment)
EARLI’S short-duration income generating activities (land recuperation) are
rightfully accessible to men as well as to women. However, the physical
capacity of women makes the work more difficult for them compared
to men. Both donors and the GoN need to consider how to provide
appropriate work for women that gives them equal pay for the time worked.
Land is most compacted and difficult to dig in the month of April in Niger.
At the work sites visited by the RTE team, some men go to the site and
finish early. Most people observed on the sites in the heat of the day
were women. They told us that because the work is more difficult, women
work longer hours and may need to return in the afternoon when the
temperature has decreased in order to finish digging the same number
of half-moons as the men. There are no alternative jobs for women,
regardless of their physical condition. Women may work longer than men,
but receive the same pay.
6. For those for whom the work is too strenuous, provide a cash transfer.
Cash for Work is not appropriate for everyone, least of all pregnant and
lactating women, the disabled and the elderly. For households without
Woman digs half moons near mid-day in a recuperation site in Guineo-Bangou,
Ouallam. Abdourhimou Adamou
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