This is why current national policy in economic and social development places the emphasis on sustainable use of resources. Planning exercises based on this policy agree on a participatory process in which the strategies developed and methods used favour the involvement of all actors. In this context, the forest sector in particular has played a leading role. Strengthened by the results of this reflection, it has introduced innovations at the institutional level and has favoured the emergence of conditions conducive to the application of the participatory approach. Active and real participation of the entirety of actors in the rural development planning process is today unanimous.
Women occupy a dominant position among agricultural development actors.
There does exist, however, a social consensus through which men help women in those tasks that call for a certain level of physical force. Over the last two decades, significant advances have been noted in policies and programmes concerned with female advancement. Multilateral and bilateral partners and NGOs have joined these efforts and this has led to an improvement in the status of women and has increased their opportunities for economic and social advancement. Currently, all development partners as well as national institutions have integrated gender issues into their analyses. This is why various ministries recognize gender as the strategic axis of intervention in their policy orientations.