On the road to gender transformative change

In honor of International Women’s Day, this post highlights some of the efforts under way across CGIAR to alleviate gender inequalities.

The FAO 2011 State of Food and Agriculture report estimates that if women had the same access to production resources as men, they could increase yields on their fields by 20-30%. According to FAO, equal access alone would raise total agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5-4%. This in turn could reduce the number of people going to bed hungry by 12-17%, or 100-150 million people.

But past efforts to integrate gender into agricultural research and development practice have failed to identify and address the inequalities that limit women’s access to agricultural inputs, markets, resources, and advice.

CGIAR is creating the institutional architecture and organizational culture to avoid repeating mistakes of the past and contribute effectively. It recognizes that gender is just one facet of the problem of social inequality and that issues of gender inequality cannot be solved simply by differentiating by sex. In response, the CGIAR Research Programs are developing their capacity for social analysis by increasing the recruitment of qualified social scientists with expertise in gender relations. Social analysis is needed to understand how to target, design, and evaluate agricultural innovations to “do no harm” and to positively improve social equality, including gender.

Now, numerous CGIAR initiatives and programs are addressing this gap directly. The CGIAR Research Programs are developing Gender Strategies with a comprehensive research plan. Activities include conducting gender audits, developing new capacity development approaches, and using data gathering and analysis techniques that disaggregate and clarify gender differences. In addition, some programs are applying a Gender Transformative Approach (GTA), which considers not only the symptoms of gender inequality but also how to address the social norms, attitudes, behaviors, and social systems that underlie them.

CGIAR Research Programs are not applying a blueprint, but tailoring their approach to gender to match the current requirements. For example, the CGIAR Research Programs WHEAT and MAIZE brought in experts on gender audits for a workshop in December 2012 and will be implementing their audit of their research programs through May 2013. The aim is to understand current levels of gender awareness in the programs and identify strengths and weaknesses that need to be addressed to enable the empowerment of women farmers through those working along maize and wheat value chains.

“Interventions can reinforce or alter gender relations,” explains Dave Watson, MAIZE manager. “At the moment, by ignoring gender realities, we could do harm and get poor results. The ultimate goal is to make our research programs more gender transformative and address both the causes and consequences of gender inequalities,” concludes Watson.

Jenny Nelson, program manager of the Global Wheat Program, explains that one area of emphasis during the workshop was the need to consider issues such as participatory decision-making and transparency in project design, or what it might take to see gender-equal uptake of the research products. “This is an important, maybe even revolutionary, change in the way agriculture-for-development has worked,” says Nelson.

Several other initiatives have been directed at sensitizing researchers to gender issues, The CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) conducted a series of video interviews with gender thought leaders addressing Gender Transformational Research in Development. The participants include leading gender researchers Andrea Rodericks (CARE India), Jacqueline Ashby (CGIAR Consortium), Eve Crowley (FAO), Jane Brown (Johns Hopkins University), and Augustin Kimonyo (PROMUNDO). They share their thoughts on how to move forward for including gender research in agricultural research in development.

Social scientists working on gender in many different kinds of organizations, agree that there is a need to improve and share research methods and tools. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) facilitated a workshop on gender integration and analytic tools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 8-12 January 2013 with 20+ participants from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Topics included concepts of gender; gender in agricultural research; a gender livelihood conceptual framework; qualitative methods; the relationship between gender, agriculture, and assets; the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI); and the need for gender disaggregated surveys. The training also provided concrete advice and feedback on how to analyze gender disaggregated data, the importance of sharing results and strategies for doing so, plans for synthesizing lessons learned, and practical next steps.

The Ganges Basin Development Challenge Program held its Second Training Session on Gender in Khulna, Bangladesh, 23-24 January 2013, with 20 participants from the Khulna and Barisal regions. The session provided tools for gender analysis and gender integration methods in research and development. Participants assessed the role of gender in their own projects and developed an action plan for further integration. The training event was organized by WorldFish and hosted by BRAC, Sushilan, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the local Government Engineering Department, Institute of Water Modeling (IWM), Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

An example of the application of gender analysis is presented in a working paper recently published by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). The working paper explores the extent to which agricultural modernization affects women’s status. The study looked at three key drivers of change – improved seed technology, mechanization, and government actions – comparing and assessing their impacts on men and women. It highlights the differing positive benefits accruing to men and women, potential negative consequences, and recommendations for policies and technologies that can better help to ensure that women and men benefit more equally from policies and advances.

Likewise, a recent article from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) gives a gendered perspective on how the rapid expansion of supermarkets and agricultural labor demand in Kenya could affect farming patterns and rural development. Findings from the study suggest that the supermarket revolution is providing new agricultural employment opportunities, particularly for women, who experienced an increase in labor demand of 121%. The researchers note that women’s access to paid employment tends to increase their economic independence and control over income, and that agricultural wage employment is especially beneficially to those with the lowest incomes.

Two working papers from the CGIAR Systemwide Program on Collective Action and Property Rights provide examples of analyses, which take into account gender differentiation in priorities, participation, and impacts regarding climate change adaptation and effects. The first, by Elizabeth Bryan and Julia Behrman, looks at the extent to which men and women have different priorities or needs regarding adaptation to climate change and how that affects community responses. It also discusses ways to promote equal participation from men and women in community responses to climate change to maximize resilience, equity, and the effectiveness of adaptation efforts. The second, by Amelia H.X. Goh, presents a literature review of gender-differentiated impacts of climate change on the assets and well-being of men and women. Those differing impacts are analyzed in the context of agricultural production, food security, health, water and energy resources, migration and conflict, and natural disasters.

The road to transformative change and gender equity is long and filled with obstacles. But the payoffs and potential for bringing about change are massive.  The path to success requires a research process that is more dynamic, iterative, and engaged than previously. The CGIAR Research Programs and commitment to managing gender as a cross-cutting theme for research efficiencies have created great new potential. A much bigger peer group of researchers has emerged, stretching across disciplines, research institutions, and continents. The course is launched.

For more information:

Integrating gender into WHEAT and MAIZE CRPs: A leap forward. (Posted by Barbora Nemcova on January 21, 2013.)

Palacios, A C (2012) Drivers of Change Agricultural modernization and women’s status in SAT India. Working Paper Series no. 35. Working Paper. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Rao, E.J.O. and Qaim, M. 2013. Supermarkets and agricultural labor demand in Kenya: A gendered perspective. Food Policy 38: 165-176.  2013-02-01.

CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems. Gender transformative approach: Building Coalitions, Creating Change: An Agenda for Gender Transformative Research in Development. Penang, Malaysia. Workshop Report: AAS-2012-31. Worldfish. Gender a central issue for Ganges Basin Development Challenge Program,

CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems. Interviews with thought leaders: Gender transformational research in development. Jan 17 2013.

Bryan, E., and J. Behrman. 2013. Community–based adaptation to climate change: A theoretical framework, overview of key issues and discussion of gender differentiated priorities and participation. CAPRI Working Paper No. 109. Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute. .

Amelia H. X. Goh. A Literature Review of the Gender-Differentiated Impacts of Climate Change on Women’s and Men’s Assets and Well-Being in Developing Countries. CAPRi Working Paper 106. Washington, DC: IFPRI. 2012.

Photo credit: V.Gwinner