How might the gender roles affect the implementation of a new water-saving technique for Colombian rice production? : Report of gender dimensions in Colombian rice production

Globally, rice cultivation is responsible for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions released by agricultural activities. To sustainably reduce the contribution of rice to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it is important to pursue management and technological options that reduce emissions and improve farmer productivity, adaptation and resilience to climate change impacts. Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) is a water-saving technique that helps farmers adapt to less water availability. It reduces the amount of in-field gas emissions associated with rice production, and it may increase and/or maintain rice productivity levels. The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and partners are conducting several studies to evaluate the feasibility of implementing this technology in Colombia, a country that has committed to reducing economy-wide GHG emissions by 20% under the 2015 Paris Agreement and implementing adaptation plans by 2030. The sustainable implementation of AWD requires an understanding of the economic, climatic, political, agronomic and social considerations within which farmers operate. The literature shows how gender roles can influence the adoption of a technology or be affected by the introduction of a new technology. A baseline study was designed to answer the following questions: how might gender impact the adoption of AWD in Colombia? And how will the adoption of AWD affect the gender division of labor? A household survey with sex-disaggregated information in 609 households in five departments was conducted. The results suggest that women own rice assets and make decisions about production but are not recognized as rice producers. They do not receive agricultural information and do not have group membership in the same proportion as men do. Furthermore, households in which women participate as producers are more likely to have noneconomic incentives and water availability (i.e. no problems with water scarcity) to implement AWD. Women participate in manual weed control as hired labor and men participate more in irrigation, and both activities can be affected by the implementation of AWD. For AWD to be widely implemented in Colombia, it is important to target women as well as men and create awareness of the possible social effects of the technology in gendered labor activities, and therefore in the lives of both women and men

Diseño de un plan de mejoramiento para la calidad de Plásticos S.A.S.

Este trabajo de investigación tiene como principal objetivo diseñar el plan de mejoramiento para el Sistema de Gestión de la Calidad alineado al enfoque estratégico de la empresa PLÁSTICOS S.A.S. Para ello se realiza primero un diagnóstico del SGC de la compañía a través de instrumentos como la encuesta, la entrevista y la revisión documental, que permiten tener por un lado una mirada a partir de la percepción del personal respecto al desempeño del SGC y por otro una mirada con base en la documentación. Con los resultados del diagnóstico se realiza el Análisis de Causa Raíz (ACR) para identificar los factores causales de falla. Finalmente para determinar el plan de mejoramiento, se realiza una reunión de grupo focal, donde intervienen los representantes del SGC, Gerencia y jefaturas, y se revisan las causas identificadas, las propuestas obtenidas y se aplica el paso cuatro (4) del método de la ruta críticaMAGISTER EN ADMINISTRACIÓN - CAL

Socioeconomic survey with gender perspective for AWD in Colombia

Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) is a water saving technique thus helping farmers adapt to less water availability, it reduces the methane gas emission in rice production, and it increases/maintains productivity levels. The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and partners, are doing several studies to evaluate the feasibility of implementing this technology in Colombia. This necessitates an understanding of economic, climatic, political, agronomic and social considerations. Literature shows how gender roles can influence the adoption of a technology or be affected by the introduction of a new technology. Therefore, a baseline in five departments of Colombia – Tolima, Norte de Santander, Cesar, Córdoba and Casanare, was implemented to identify: a) barriers and motivations of farmers to implement AWD and b) gender roles in decision making over rice production and labor. This last to understand: how might gender impact the adoption of AWD in Colombia? And, how will the adoption of AWD affect the gender division of labor? In order to answer these questions, a household survey with sex-disaggregated information was implemented to 609 households with at least one irrigated rice. The implementation of the survey was supported by Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), the National Association of Rice in Colombia (FEDEARROZ, by its acronym in Spanish) and the Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS

Socioeconomic survey with gender perspective for AWD in Colombia

Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) is a water saving technique thus helping farmers adapt to less water availability, it reduces the methane gas emission in rice production, and it increases/maintains productivity levels. The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and partners, are doing several studies to evaluate the feasibility of implementing this technology in Colombia. This necessitates an understanding of economic, climatic, political, agronomic and social considerations. Literature shows how gender roles can influence the adoption of a technology or be affected by the introduction of a new technology. Therefore, a baseline in five departments of Colombia – Tolima, Norte de Santander, Cesar, Córdoba and Casanare, was implemented to identify: a) barriers and motivations of farmers to implement AWD and b) gender roles in decision making over rice production and labor. This last to understand: how might gender impact the adoption of AWD in Colombia? And, how will the adoption of AWD affect the gender division of labor? In order to answer these questions, a household survey with sex-disaggregated information was implemented to 609 households with at least one irrigated rice. The implementation of the survey was supported by Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), the National Association of Rice in Colombia (FEDEARROZ, by its acronym in Spanish) and the Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS

Sustainable and Low Greenhouse Gas Emitting Rice Production in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Review on the Transition from Ideality to Reality

The burgeoning demand for rice in Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) exceeds supply, resulting in a rice deficit. To overcome this challenge, rice production should be increased, albeit sustainably. However, since rice production is associated with increases in the atmospheric concentration of two greenhouse gases (GHGs), namely methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), the challenge is on ensuring that production increases are not associated with an increase in GHG emissions and thus do not cause an increase in GHG emission intensities. Based on current understanding of drivers of CH4 and N2O production, we provide here insights on the potential climate change mitigation benefits of management and technological options (i.e., seeding, tillage, irrigation, residue management) pursued in the LAC region. Studies conducted in the LAC region show intermittent irrigation or alternate wetting and drying of rice fields to reduce CH4 emissions by 25–70% without increasing N2O emissions. Results on yield changes associated with intermittent irrigation remain inconclusive. Compared to conventional tillage, no-tillage and anticipated tillage (i.e., fall tillage) cause a 21% and 25% reduction in CH4 emissions, respectively. From existing literature, it was unambiguous that the mitigation potential of most management strategies pursued in the LAC region need to be quantified while acknowledging country-specific conditions. While breeding high yielding and low emitting rice varieties may represent the most promising and possibly sustainable approach for achieving GHG emission reductions without demanding major changes in on-farm management practices, this is rather idealistic. We contend that a more realistic approach for realizing low GHG emitting rice production systems is to focus on increasing rice yields, for obvious food security reasons, which, while not reducing absolute emissions, should translate to a reduction in GHG emission intensities. Moreover, there is need to explore creative ways of incentivizing the adoption of promising combinations of management and technological options

Novel Technological and Management Options for Accelerating Transformational Changes in Rice and Livestock Systems

Agricultural producers grapple with low farm yields and declining ecosystem services within their landscapes. In several instances, agricultural production systems may be considered largely unsustainable in socioeconomic and ecological (resource conservation and use and impact on nature) terms. Novel technological and management options that can serve as vehicles to promote the provision of multiple benefits, including the improvement of smallholder livelihoods, are needed. We call for a paradigm shift to allow designing and implementing agricultural systems that are not only efficient (serving as a means to promote development based on the concept of creating more goods and services while using fewer resources and creating less waste) but can also be considered synergistic (symbiotic relationship between socio-ecological systems) by simultaneously contributing to major objectives of economic, ecological, and social (equity) improvement of agro-ecosystems. These transformations require strategic approaches that are supported by participatory system-level research, experimentation, and innovation. Using data from several studies, we here provide evidence for technological and management options that could be optimized, promoted, and adopted to enable agricultural systems to be efficient, effective, and, indeed, sustainable. Specifically, we present results from a study conducted in Colombia, which demonstrated that, in rice systems, improved water management practices such as Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) reduce methane emissions (~70%). We also show how women can play a key role in AWD adoption. For livestock systems, we present in vitro evidence showing that the use of alternative feed options such as cassava leaves contributes to livestock feed supplementation and could represent a cost-effective approach for reducing enteric methane emissions (22% to 55%). We argue that to design and benefit from sustainable agricultural systems, there is a need for better targeting of interventions that are co-designed, co-evaluated, and co-promoted, with farmers as allies of transformational change (as done in the climate-smart villages), not as recipients of external knowledge. Moreover, for inclusive sustainability that harnesses existing knowledge and influences decision-making processes across scales, there is a need for constant, efficient, effective, and real trans-disciplinary communication and collaboration