The contribution of fish intake, aquaculture, and small-scale fisheries to improving nutrition: A literature review

Much of fish consumed by the poor are caught by household members and traded in local markets. These fish are rarely or poorly included in national statistics, and it is therefore difficult to estimate precisely the real contribution of fish to the rural poor households. This report is the first global overview of the role played by fish in improving nutrition. Fish consumption patterns of the poor, the nutritional value of fish, and small-scale fisheries and aquaculture activities are considered. It also highlights the gap in knowledge where more research is needed.Small scale aquaculture, Nutritive value, Food fish, Developing countries, Food security, Fish consumption, Artisanal fishing

Gender responsive participatory varietal selection for sustainable seed potato systems in Assam, India.

This report presents the results of the Participatory Varietal Selection (PVSs) implemented in 2018. A total of 116 people participated in the PVSs at the flowering stage and 139 people participated at the harvesting stages. Gender‐responsive approaches were employed to facilitate women’s active participation. More than 50% of participants were women, and gender segregated group discussions were held to create a comfortable environment for women to speak in public

Opportunities and constraints for women: Recommendations for building gender responsive potato value chains in Assam, India.

Four key findings are highlighted in this report. First, women are not directly connected with formal institutions, which deliver agricultural technology and information, such as farmers’ associations, local government authorities and agricultural input suppliers. Second, there are significant knowledge gaps between women and men. However, women are not passive, rather they are very active, interested in trying new practices and new crops. Third, women are capable for agribusiness, but they have gender‐based preferences, interests and constraints. Fourth, women diverse social groups in Assam and gender norms differ significantly among the different religious, age and socio‐economic groups. Based on these findings, this report concludes proposing recommendations for gender‐responsible interventions. Detailed long‐term and short‐term objectives and action plans for women should be discussed and developed with various leaders of the project modules and their teams

Gender in agricultural mechanization: Key guiding questions

This tool describes case studies of gender implications in mechanization in RTB crops, illustrating both positive and negative outcomes. GENNOVATE research has shown that the beneficiaries of mechanization tend to be the wealthier rather than the poorer farmers and more often men than women. However, results also reveal that women have strong interest in mechanization as a way to improve their own circumstances

A rapid assessment of Farmer Business Schools from a gender perspective in Meghalaya, India.

This report evaluates Farmer Business Schools (FBS) from gender and social perspectives to understand how women and men are involved in and benefit from FBS. The report is based on the fieldwork carried out in April 2019 through in‐depth interviews with twelve women and twelve men FBS members

Sweetpotato in diverse economies: Women farmers in Ha Tinh province, Vietnam

Linking smallholder farmers to markets has been one of the major approaches to improving food security. This approach is often combined with women’s empowerment as well by emphasizing women’s greater involvement in market-oriented agriculture. However, it implicitly undervalues women’s roles in non-market-oriented agriculture and unpaid family labor. This is partly because current mainstream value-chain analyses are premised on a capitalist economy that separates production from the non-capitalist form of all activities. The aim of this study is to gain a more nuanced understanding of non- or less-market oriented agricultural activities led by women farmers and the oft-neglected value of these activities in rural households. The study employs the concept of diverse economies which consider non-market-oriented activities as part of various economic systems, including subsistence farming, exchange of food, and exchange of labor. A case study was conducted in a community in the Ha Tinh province in Vietnam in April 2021, when COVID-19 had little impact on agriculture. Findings show that women manage non-market-oriented sweetpotato production, which is central to maintaining a local seed system, a reciprocal support system, and livestock production. Furthermore, women choose the best varieties of sweetpotato and use their own social networks for obtaining planting materials and distributing the sweetpotato harvest, enabling women to control both agricultural production and the distribution of benefits. In this context, shifting to commercial agriculture is not a desired form of agricultural development for women. Interventions in agricultural value chains require careful considerations of women’s aspirations and household strategies embedded in broad production and reproduction within extended and intergenerational family relations