Recognizing that gender inequality fundamentally constrains the ability of CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) to achieve major strategic results, in 2011 the Consortium established a cross-program Gender and Agriculture Research Network to enhance the strategic coherence, efficiency, and scientific quality of gender research and collaboration with partners. Each CRP has a lead scientist to coordinate communication and work with the Network, and plan future activities.
Approaches
The Network promotes and supports two approaches to collaboration across CRPs: strategic research to deepen understanding of how gender disparities and gender relations affect agricultural innovation, productivity, and sustainability; and integrating gender analysis into research on topics such as plant breeding, adapting to climate change, and integrated pest management.
Strategic research on gender issues
The CGIAR Gender and Agriculture Research Network facilitates opportunities or ‘entry points’ for cross-program strategic research on gender. Research areas where cross-program efforts can be efficient and produce impact include:
- The effect of gender disparities in access to advisory services on adoption of new technologies;
- Development of more inclusive commodity and food value chains;
- Changes in gender relations as a result of income generated by technological and institutional innovations;
- The implications of unequal property rights and rates of asset accumulation for innovation and sustainable resource management in agriculture by women and men; and
- Information systems for reliable, gender-disaggregated data.
Understanding constraints to gender equality in adoption
New technologies on their own are a blunt instrument for achieving development outcomes and especially for improving gender equality. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) assessment of the current gender gap in agriculture shows that constraints to technology adoption faced by women producers are closely associated with low levels of productivity compared with men for numerous commodities all over the world.
CGIAR Research Programs and their partners tackle gender disparities in access to appropriate technology, input markets, and advisory services (credit, extension, communications, cooperative organization) in order to ensure that women farmers benefit from research results.
Understanding gender disparities as drivers of poverty and under-nutrition
Success in achieving CGIAR strategic objectives requires innovation that is sensitive to control of the benefits. The important role gender inequalities play in women’s control over income generated by new technology and new markets is a crucial micro-level driver of poverty and under-nutrition that cross-cuts commodities and systems. Gender disparities also influence willingness to invest in sustainable resource management and the capacity to adapt in the face of climate change.
CGIAR and its partners collaborate in monitoring and understanding what drives change in women’s control over new income streams resulting from innovations.
Priority setting and targeting
Not all productivity-enhancing innovation benefits poor rural women. Value chains that are industrializing and mechanizing on a large scale can displace women processors and traders dependent artisanal activities, for example.
There are trade-offs between the research priorities of CRPs and national partners that require cross-program gender analysis to understand better how to target and deliver gender-responsive innovations.
Shared data collection, monitoring and evaluation
Complementary gender research initiatives will gain from integrating research questions, targeting, establishing sentinel benchmark sites, data collection, monitoring, policy engagement, and developing research capacity.
There is an important opportunity for piloting new methodologies for cross-cutting areas, such as developing inclusive value chains.
Sentinel sites as a mechanism for cross-program gender research
CGIAR Research Programs are seeking ways to collaborate on gender research by identifying areas where clusters of CGIAR and partner programs and projects provide opportunities for developing sentinel or long-term sites for cross-program gender research. The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which collaborates with all the other CGIAR Research Programs, is catalyzing this initiative.
Integrating the use of gender analysis
CGIAR biological research aims to improve the productivity, food value, and sustainability of commodities important to the livelihoods of the poor, both men and women. This means taking account of their different priorities and constraints when defining beneficiary groups, and designing and testing technologies, as well as when monitoring outcomes and assessing impact.
Scientists and managers need to incorporate information on gender disparities when setting research priorities and developing technologies. A crucial part of the Consortium Gender Strategy is ensuring that scientists are familiar with gender analysis and with the implications of the information provided by gender analysis.
Centers which are members of the CGIAR Consortium, and CRPs, are undertaking various initiatives to broaden understanding among scientists and managers of the implications of gender disparities for research.
