Agricultural research within CGIAR has traditionally been dominated by biophysical scientists. However, CGIAR now has a greater focus on development outcomes – poverty reduction, improving food security, improving health and nutrition, and promoting sustainable management of resources – and the need for a greater integration of social sciences into the agricultural research portfolio has become apparent. Policies to support rural women to improve agricultural productivity and their livelihoods are a particular priority.
Speaking the same language
But how can we “mainstream” gender into CGIAR research? First thing’s first, we need to “speak the same language” as our biophysical counter parts, suggested Kathleen Colverson from ILRI at the “Methods and Standards for Research on Gender and Agriculture” meeting in Montpellier last month. Social scientists need to learn to speak the biophysical scientist language and vice versa if we are to breakdown the silos.
In the 1990s, CGIAR social scientists made a concerted effort to communicate their perspectives to their biophysical science colleagues. As an unintentional consequence many applied the tools and methods without understanding the social context needed to interpret the information they generated. This led to an over-reliance on comparisons of male and female headed households and a neglect of the underlying social relations, especially differences in power. For example data collected by asking male farmers (household heads) to supply (often erroneous) information about what their wives and daughters contribute to farming. It’s time now to correct this kind of oversight.
Minimum set of standards
One way the exchange between social and biophysical scientists can be facilitated would be through the creation of a minimum set of standards for gender research. “Laboratories have standards. You have to wash the petri dishes every time after you use them,” said Jacqueline Ashby, CGIAR Consortium. “If you don’t wash them, forget it!” Enforcing standards for gender research is “at about that level.”
A preliminary version of what minimum standards for gender research should include was outlined by workshop participants. Basic demographic information such as age, marital status, education, migration status, occupation, ethnicity and religion, were agreed upon as ‘must-have’. Participants also agreed that all research claiming to include gender must pay close attention to the ‘who’ –who are we targeting, who needs to be included in surveys, who is providing the labor, who owns the land, who has access to resources, who has decision making power, and who has control over benefits?
A short basic set of standards will be created with the aim of implementing these standards across the CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) for all scientists involving gender in their research. Focus groups from the Gender Network meeting will develop more specific sets of standards for researchers tailored to the various research approaches: quantitative, qualitative, impact evaluation, and value chains.
Creating a set of minimum standards will ensure that similar data is collected across the CRPs, enabling scientists to compare data across geographies and time scales. Qualitative data will enable interpretation and analysis of data to predict which solutions or interventions could work in some places but not others. If data has to be collected from men and women separately to provide a correct picture of gender differences in assets, resources and benefits from technical change, different but cost-effective sampling strategies should be employed.
But how can we encourage compliance? Some proposed a peer review process for grant proposals, surveys and papers to ensure gender is properly addressed and not just checked off of a list. Another possibility is the inclusion of gender progress in annual reports.
By the end of the three-day meeting, participants were enthusiastic about taking the diverse set of research methods shared by different gender specialists back to their own Centers. The meeting was very helpful in “identifying partners who can be of support” within and across CGIAR Research Programs, says Malika Martini of ICARDA. Collaboration across Centers and CRPs will be more easily facilitated now that gender specialists have met and discussed ways to collaborate in the future. Many left the workshop with the feeling that they were “part of something bigger” and not just the lone gender researcher in their office.
More information:
This post was the result of discussions with participants from the Methods and Standards for Research on Gender and Agriculture Workshop which took place in Montpellier last month. The #gender aspect to #LELP2013 #Ag4Dev (Listening Engaging Learning Progressing – LELP2013)
Photo credit: Udita Chatterjee/Landesa (IFPRI)