The gender analysis framework has four parts and is carried out in two main steps. First, information is collected for the Activity Profile and the Access and Control Profile. Then this information is used in the analysis of factors and trends influencing activities and access and control, and in the project cycle analysis.

The planner needs to know the tasks of men and women in the population subgroups in the project area to be able to direct project activities toward those performing particular tasks. Therefore, data must be gathered on women‘s and men’s involvement in each stage of the agricultural cycle, on their shared as well as unshared tasks, and on the degree of fixity of the gender division of labor. The objective is to ensure that women are actively included in the project and are not disadvantaged by it.

The Activity Profile usually considers all categories of activities: productive, reproductive,1 community-related service. It identifies how much time is spent on each activity, how often this work is done (e.g., daily or seasonally), which periods are characterized by a high demand for labor, and what extra demands the program inputs will make on women, men, and children.

The Activity Profile also identifies where the activities take place, at home or elsewhere (the village, marketplace, fields, or urban centers), and how far these places are from the household. This information gives insights into female and male mobility, and allows an assessment of the impact of the program on mobility, method of travel, travel time for each activity, and potential ways of saving time.

Issues considered under Activity Profile include:

• Production of goods and services
• Reproductive and human resource maintenance activities
• Community work
• Community organization and activities

The Access and Control Profile considers productive resources such as: land, equipment, labor, capital and credit, and education, and training. It differentiates between access to a resource and control over decisions regarding its allocation and use. It enables planners to consider whether the proposed project could undermine access to productive resources, or if it could change the balance of power between men and women regarding control over resources.

The profile examines the extent to which women are impeded from participating equitably in projects. For example, if women have limited access to income or land, they may be unable to join groups, which provide production inputs and commercial opportunities, or to become independent commercial producers. In some subgroups, men may also suffer the same disadvantage.

Program management mechanisms (e.g., the creation of water users) groups or cooperatives) may determine who has access to and control over productive resources and may change existing gender relations.

• demographic factors, including household composition and household headship;
• general economic conditions, such as poverty levels, inflation rates, income distribution, internal terms of trade, and infrastructure;
• cultural and religious factors;
• education levels and gender participation rates; and
• political, institutional, and legal factors.

The analysis should consider the following:

Which policies and programs aimed at ensuring women’s participation could affect the project?

Which community norms and beliefs could influence women’s participation in the project’s activities?

Are there laws or regulations that could affect women’s participation in the project or their access to its benefits?

Some questions that may need to be considered in this analysis deal with production processes, training, information, participation, access, institution building, project framework etc.

Particularly within the Project framework, the following issues need to be considered:

• Do the planning assumptions (at each level of the planning framework or logical framework, for example) adequately reflect the constraints on women’s participation in the program?
• Do project performance indicators identify the need for data to be collected, disaggregated by gender? Will changes in the gender division of labor be monitored? Will data on women’s access to and control over resources be collected during the project?
• Can the project meet both practical gender needs (supporting and improving the efficiency of women’s and men’s productive roles) and strategic gender needs (improving gender equity through women’s participation in the project)?
• Do the goals, purposes, or objectives of the program explicitly refer to women or reflect women’s needs and priorities?
• Do the project inputs identify opportunities for female participation in program management, in the delivery and community management of goods and services, in any planned institutional changes, in training opportunities, and in the monitoring of resources and benefits? Will the project resources be relevant and accessible to poor women in terms of personnel, location, and timing?
• Does the project include measurable indices for the attainment of its GAD objec-tives, to facilitate monitoring and post-evaluation?