Place-based Development: A Comparative Study of Gender Empowerment and Community Collaboration in Small Farming Households in Punjab, Pakistan

Since the independence of Pakistan, the agriculture and rural development have been part of the national development plans. The agricultural and rural development department has adopted several approaches and strategies, but most can be considered unsuccessful mainly because of the low level of community participation, the lack of focus on community needs and their failure to be gender inclusive. This research examines and seeks to understand the place-based agricultural value chain development that engages farming communities in rural Punjab. The research looks into the contribution of the participatory/multidisciplinary value chain development to gender inclusion, collaboration, and empowerment in the small farming households in rural Punjab. Based on the pragmatism paradigm, this uses mixed methods. A comparative pre and post analysis of place-based development approach and commodity focused approach is carried out using survey and focused group discussions data. In addition to comparing the different value chain development approaches, analysis of a control site was also added to compare the changes without any intervention. It was found that gender inclusion and participation enhanced the collective action in decisions making at inter and the intra-household level. The level of intrahousehold collaboration at the pilot place-based site was higher as compared to the commodity approach site and control site implying that the place-based community engagement leads to higher level of gender collaboration.