Embedding gender in conservation agriculture R4D in Sub-Saharan Africa: Relevant research questions

This resource examines the impact of gender relations on Conservation Agriculture (CA) adoption and adoption mechanisms. It offers a set of research questions to help integrate gender considerations into CA research for development, including on topics such as gender dynamics at the household and community level, minimum tillage, crop rotation and diversification, residue management, and knowledge networks

Towards gender-responsive banana research for development in the East-African Highlands

Banana production is an important livelihood for farming households in the East-African highlands as food and as a source of income. Banana is a crop with a long history in this region. Although not originating from Africa, it is believed bananas have been cultivated in this region since 2000 BC. It is not surprising that the technical aspects of banana production are intertwined with rituals, habits, and social norms. In this guide, we highlight and discuss social norms surrounding banana production, zooming in specifically on gender norms. Understanding these norms coupled with the ability to address them is essential for the development and design of high-quality banana-focused research for development (R4D) projects which benefit men as well as women

Enhancing the gender-responsiveness of your project's technical farmer training events

This resource sets out simple suggestions for ensuring that women as well as men feel included in training events, are fully informed about technological options, learn effectively, and have the confidence to implement what they have learned. Over time, if their experience has been successful, they should be able to build on the training course to innovate by themselves in response to their needs and changes in the wider environment

Gender, livestock and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is developing a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Activity (NAMA) that will provide climate finance for best livestock management practices that generate climate change mitigation benefits. The LivestockPlus research project, implemented by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and partners, seeks to inform the NAMA by providing scientific evidence for improved pasture and cattle management to sustainably improve yields while also reducing emissions. Women are a target beneficiary of the research, yet the relevance of gender to the project’s aims has been unclear. A scoping exercise to identify opportunities to strengthen the gender component was therefore undertaken in 2015 using a case study in Costa Rica and a literature review. This exercise identified women’s roles as (1) co-decision-makers with men in the household, (2) users of milk for making cheese (most households) and (3) farmers directly involved in livestock production activities under some circumstances. Girls, together with boys, frequently played a role in the daily care of animals, which may influence girls’ capacities and willingness to become future farmers. The scoping exercise indicated opportunities for enhancing women’s roles in the cattle value chain and more generally, supporting women’s inclusion in (i) livestock and innovation for climate change mitigation, (ii) gender-responsive implementation of the NAMA, and (iii) capacity development

Continuity and change: Negotiating gender norms in agricultural research for development in Rwanda

This resource is for research and development practitioners working in agriculture and rural development in Rwanda. The objective is to provide information about the ways in which gender norms in Eastern Rwanda are changing, and which ones remain persistent. It finds that despite broader institutional changes, men’s and women’s roles and relations in relation to farming, and the gender norms governing them, are changing in piecemeal ways

Leaving no one behind: Supporting women, poor people, and indigenous people in wheat-maize innovations in Bangladesh

This guidance note for scientists and research teams acknowledges the complexity of marginalization processes and provides recommendations for making sure no one is left behind. It draws on GENNOVATE findings from a community in Bangladesh where the indigenous Santals, Bengali Muslims, and Hindus live and work together

Strengthening women in wheat farming in India: Old challenges, new realities, new opportunities

This resource provides guidance for scientists, researchers, and rural advisory services in wheat-based systems on how to better target women in all communities and how to improve inclusion for everyone. It builds on 12 case studies conducted across India’s wheat belt under CRP WHEAT. It discusses how norms are shifting in parts of rural India to accommodate open recognition of women as farmers and managers of wheat and as adopters of associated technologies, including zero tillers, combine harvesters, and improved varieties of wheat