Similarly, efforts to target women in public works projects by setting gender quotas can lead to unintended outcomes, if women who are already overburdened and “time poor” have to do even more work. Within die region’s complex resource environment, and amid die debate on self-reliance versus self-sufficiency in food for sustainable food security, the gender equality scorecard is marked by disparity. This is reflected in human development index (HDI) and gender development index (GDI) rankings.