February 2013: The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) released a report titled “Integrating Gender into Forestry Research – A Guide for CIFOR Scientists and Programme Administrators” outlining key gender considerations in forestry and presenting guidance on mainstreaming gender into CIFOR’s research work.

The report defines gender and identifies a number of key issues including: the participation of women; gender and climate change; gendered knowledge and practices; gender and land tenure and resource use rights; gender and REDD+; gender and value chain analysis; and gender and benefit sharing. For each key issue, the report describes its relevance for forestry research and poses a series of corresponding questions.

The report discusses gender analysis as it applies to forestry research, highlighting a number of different methods and approaches building on the collection of gender-disaggregated data. Such methods include surveys, document reviews, interviews, and participatory processes. The report also examines the difference in approaches based on whether research is conducted at the household, community or national/regional level.

Finally, the report provides a series of guiding principles including: adapting tools and methods for gender analysis to different contexts; understanding the socio-cultural dynamics driving gender issues in the research area; combining quantitative and qualitative approaches; seeking multiple perspectives; and allocating sufficient time and resources to the research phase.

CIFOR is a CGIAR Consortium Research Center. [Publication: Integrating Gender into Forestry Research – A Guide for CIFOR Scientists and Programme Administrators]