Gender equality, youth & social inclusion
Closing the gender gap and enhancing opportunities for youth in food, land, and water systems.
Objectives
Through research and innovation, CGIAR aims to address these challenges and contribute to collective global targets for Gender Equality, Youth, and Social Inclusion:
- Close the gender gap in rights to economic resources, access to ownership, and control over land and natural resources for over 500 million women who work in food, land, and water systems.
- Offer rewarding opportunities to 267 million young people who are not in employment, education, or training.
Activities
To contribute to these global collective targets, CGIAR Initiatives will:
- Focus on gender-transformative approaches, communication, and advocacy that lead to empowerment of women and youth, encourage entrepreneurship, and address the socio-political barriers to social inclusion in food, land, and water systems.
- Develop and implement interventions designed to enable equal access to innovations and capacity development, as well as financial, informational, and legal services for women and young people to enable them to shape agrifood systems.
- Supply improved varieties and breeds that are affordable and accessible to women, youth, and disadvantaged social groups, meeting their specific market requirements and preferences.
All CGIAR Initiatives will contribute to Gender Equality, Youth, and Social Inclusion. Below, browse a selection of Initiatives that primarily contribute to this Impact Area.
Platform
Each CGIAR Impact Area is supported by a dedicated Platform. CGIAR’s GENDER (Generating Evidence and New Directions for Equitable Results) Platform was launched in 2020. In support of CGIAR’s new 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy, this existing platform has transitioned into CGIAR’s Impact Platform on Gender Equality, Youth and Social Inclusion and is expanding its work to support the entire Impact Area.
To enable CGIAR to achieve maximum impact, this Platform:
- Guides and amplifies CGIAR research, ensuring meaningful and lasting contributions to the global targets above.
- Strengthens the performance of gender and social science research within and beyond CGIAR by identifying the highest standards and setting strategic direction.
- Conducts independent research across the CGIAR portfolio, to synthesize evidence and fill gaps.
- Engages a wide range of partners, builds capacity and informs global policy discussions.
You can learn more about the work of the Platform here.
News
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Advancing Gender Equality in Food, Land and Water Systems by 2050: The CGIAR GENDER Report 2026
The latest report from the CGIAR Gender Equality and Inclusion Accelerator, Advancing Equality, Transforming Futures: A Path to Resilient and...
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Delta Talks Explores Care and Resilience in the Mekong Delta
The 19th installment of the Delta Talks explored how approaches to the delta have evolved from colonial and management practices toward caretaking,...
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Africa’s Aquatic Foods Deserve a Bigger Place in the Food Systems Conversation
Beneath the surface of Africa's lakes, rivers and coastlines lies one of the continent's most overlooked resources, with the potential to help tackle...
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Scaling Mechanized Direct Seeded Rice for Climate-Smart Agriculture in Cambodia
By combining custom-hire machinery models, gender-inclusive scheduling, and national climate policy integration, IRRI and CGIAR enabled Cambodian...
Publications
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Perceived need and measured wellbeing How well do subjective rankings capture relative poverty
Subjective well-being rankings are widely used to target social protection programs, yet their ability to capture relative welfare and wealth remains...
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When scale matters Drivers of faunal diversity in cacao production landscapes in the Peruvian Amazon
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Postharvest grain system in Ecuador and smallscale farmers perceptions of gender roles and postharvest loss
Smallholder farmers in Ecuador are the main producers of staple grains, yet postharvest losses remain one of the major constraints they face. This...
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Fall armywormtolerant maize varieties have lower leaf damage under farmer management
Fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) is a major threat to maize production in Africa since its invasion in 2016. In sub-Saharan...