The women behind Guyana’s charcoal industry
At Yarrowkabra, along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, is a thriving women-run charcoal business. The charcoal they produce is mainly used for barbeques across Guyana and the Caribbean, with an estimated $60 million exported to the French West Indies, Trinidad and other islands in the region last year. A group of researchers recently concluded that what is happening at Yarrowkabra shows how women make specific contributions to forestry – that they can do both physical and administrative work – and that by doing so, they provide for their families and reduce poverty in their communities. The researchers hope their findings can eventually drive policy change to support women in forest-dependent communities.
The women running forestry operations in Guyana
In Guyana, forestry concessions owned by local communities go a long way in ensuring families can put food on the table, thereby ensuring the livelihoods of entire communities. And women running the operations bring a different dynamic to the business. How so? The News Room’s Neil Marks has been speaking with the women of Coomacka and Maria Elizabeth/Three Friends in Region 10 to understand how they run their operations.
Indigenous women in forestry
The culture and livelihood of indigenous communities which depend on the forests are inseparable. For those who want to improve their livelihoods and increase wealth, there is often the question of how they do that while conserving the forest and protecting their culture. The twin community of Mainstay/Whyaka is attempting to show how this can be done. And the women-led leadership, research funded by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), is helping to shape how the Guyana Forestry Commission and other agencies support community organisations.
Gender & Forests Group discusses research
To close the gap in research on gender and forests, an independent research group has been looking into women-led operations and communities. They believe findings from their research, funded by the Guyana office of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), can help shape national forest policy and practice. Some of the researchers recently spoke to the News Room about their findings. We also visited the communities where the research was conducted, Yarrowkabra, Coomacka/Three Friends, and Mainstay/Wyaka.
GENDER AND FORESTS GROUP