Urban Farm DB
Research catalogue
Database research record2014·Global

Considering the ecohealth approach: Shaping Haitian women's participation in urban agricultural projects

Jennifer Vansteenkiste

Development in Practice

Urban Farm DB summary

This paper examines the social and gender politics of a women's urban garden project in Cap Haïtien, Haiti, supported by the International Organisation for Migration. The study finds that the development process created an unmonitored symbolic space in which society's normalized gender processes were reproduced, importing broader social inequalities that in turn prevented the project from meeting the women's practical and strategic goals. It discusses how an ecohealth approach, as an alternative design framework, could make this symbolic space visible for critical engagement and analysis by participants.