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funder_partner: CGIAR GENDER platform (Generating Evidence and New Directions for Equitable Results)

GENDER (Generating Evidence and New Directions for Equitable Results) is CGIAR’s new platform designed to put gender equality at the forefront of global agricultural research for development. The Platform will transform the way gender research is done, both within and beyond CGIAR, to kick-start a process of genuine change toward greater gender equality and better lives for smallholder farmers everywhere.

Launched in January 2020, GENDER builds on a wealth of research and learning generated by the previous CGIAR Gender Network and the Collaborative Platform for Gender Research (2011–2019). It encompasses all 15 CGIAR Research Centers, 12 collaborative CGIAR Research Programs and 3 CGIAR System-wide Research Support Platforms.

https://gender.cgiar.org/

Researchers gather to reflect on and lead CIMMYT’s Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) efforts with renewed commitment and partnership

Written by Nima Chodon on . Posted in Blogs.

SAS Program Director Sieg Snapp and GESI researchers gather in New Delhi from across CIMMYT – Asia, Africa, and Latin America. (Photo: Adeeth Cariappa/CIMMYT)

“As we look towards 2030, CIMMYT is focused on building inclusive value chains, advancing mechanization, and confronting seed system challenges. We are championing demand-driven technologies and improved agricultural needs,” said Sieglinde Snapp, program director of CIMMYT’s Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) program, highlighting during the discussions the importance of integrating gender perspectives in research. “We are committed to integrating gender perspectives in all these initiatives, recognizing the vital role of women in agriculture and ensuring equitable access to resources and opportunities for all genders,” she added.

Farah Deba Keya presents her study analyzing constraints for women farmers’ active participation in mixed farming systems in Bangladesh. (Photo: CIMMYT)

The one-day meeting on October 13, 2023, in New Delhi, India, hosted under CIMMYT’s SAS program, brought together diverse groups of participants—totaling over ten senior gender researchers working in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, namely Sieg Snapp, Vijesh Krishna, Moti Jaleta, Michael Euler, Angela Meentzen, Monica Fisher—along with a cadre of junior and senior researchers and students collaborating with CIMMYT on gender research. The coming together of these GESI researchers provided a valuable opportunity for collaboration, sharing insights, and strategizing enhanced gender and socially inclusive research-for-development approaches within CIMMYT’s programs.

Monica Fisher, a senior researcher working in Africa, emphasized CIMMYT’s dedication to making gender equality and social inclusion more visible and relevant in agriculture globally. She said, “The significance of GESI research, particularly in bridging the gap between the Global South and the Global North, cannot be overstated. Our objective is to deepen our engagement in these areas.”

The day-long meeting covered various topics, including the dynamics of technology adoption, gender roles in agriculture, and the feminization of Indian agriculture. Discussions underscored the need for increased financial support for GESI research, the importance of addressing disparities in research focus, and the crucial role of intersectionality in agricultural contexts.

A notable segment of the meeting was dedicated to presentations by students on their ongoing research in gender-related topics. These young researchers brought fresh perspectives and innovative ideas, highlighting the evolving nature of gender roles in agriculture and the impact of technology on gender dynamics in various regions. Their contributions underscored the importance of fostering a new generation of researchers committed to gender equity and social inclusion in agricultural development. Hari Krishnan K. S., a student working with CIMMYT opined, “My study, supervised by CIMMYT’s gender researchers, revealed that the concept of masculinities transcends gender, focusing instead on effective farming practices. It highlighted the diverse influences on agricultural decision-making and the varied reactions to technology adoption in Punjab’s agriculture. This reflects the critical role of CIMMYT’s gender-focused research in shaping my approach and understanding as a student in this field.”

Contributing his perspective, Vijesh Krishna, lead researcher working in India, highlighted the need for innovation in research approach. According to him, “To revolutionize GESI research, a shift towards longitudinal data analysis and cross-country data utilization is needed. Building evidence and documenting changes in gender dynamics due to policy and social transformations are essential.” He further encouraged the fostering of in-house capacities to mainstream gender considerations across disciplines, enhancing collaboration, and developing skills for the effective communication of research findings to stakeholders.

Snapp believes that the meeting was not just a gathering of minds but a milestone in CIMMYT’s ongoing journey towards agrifood systems development. “It reaffirms the organization’s commitment to impactful research that acknowledges and addresses the nuances of gender and social dynamics in agriculture, paving the way for a more inclusive and sustainable future in the sector.”

Sieglinde Snapp explains initiatives to support urgent and relevant GESI research and efforts within CIMMYT’s programs (Photo: CIMMYT)

As the meeting concluded, Snapp spoke of the resolve to make GESI efforts urgent and relevant. She proposed three initiatives: firstly, renaming the SAS gender team the “Paula Kantor Gender and Development Centre” to reflect a broader scope and purpose; secondly, establishing a mentorship program to offer career guidance, networking opportunities, and professional development support; and finally, the introduction of a prestigious “Research Excellence in the Field” award in Paula Kantor’s honor.

“These initiatives aim to enhance the impact and recognition of the organization’s gender-focused efforts, promote professional growth, and honor excellence in the field, embodying CIMMYT’s commitment to gender-focused efforts,” she explained.

The meeting minutes are available here.

Integrating gender into crop breeding

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in Publications.

The Seed Production Technology for Africa (SPTA) project, led by CIMMYT, has been selected by the CGIAR Gender Impact Platform as a successful case study of integrating gender into crop breeding.

The case study, published in Frontiers in Sociology, is one of fourteen that the CGIAR Genetic Innovation Gender strategy is drawing on to showcase lessons learned from practical experience. These case studies form a critical part of the efforts to pursue gender responsive or gender-intentional breeding and explore how these can inform larger breeding pipelines.

Maize is widely grown by both women and men in Africa. Evidence of gender-differentiated preferences for maize varieties remains inconclusive; however, there is evidence of gendered differences in management practices. Hybrids produced using SPTA segregate 1:1 for pollen producing and non-pollen producing plants referred to as 50% non-pollen producing (FNP) varieties. Previous research showed FNP offered a yield benefit under low input conditions. In the early stage of its inception, the project quickly recognized the potential implications of hybrids produced using SPTA for women and other resource-constrained smallholders in Africa.

Understanding gender-based differences

From the start, the SPTA team conducted a gender review that underscored the fact that women in the region often use less fertilizer than men, a challenge that is further compounded by cultivation of smaller plots and lower quality soils. This review led the breeding team to explicitly target women and resource-poor farmers with an ambition to increase yields on women’s fields. From here henceforth, SPTA made it a priority to understand gender-based differences in performance and preference for new FNP maize varieties. This process involved ensuring both women and men farmers host trials to evaluate and attest to the performance of the FNP hybrids.

But these efforts were not without challenges. The team also found significant gender differences, particularly among women farmers in crop management practices and between farmers’ stated preferences during participatory varietal selection exercises and the varieties they used at home. This suggested that initial on-farm evaluations were not adequate for predicting real world demand for varieties. Moving forward, the evaluation strategy of SPTA evolved to enable variety evaluations under farmers’ preferred management practices.

The success of the SPTA team in ensuring that gender considerations were strongly embedded into the breeding program is attributed to strong collaboration across disciplines that included social scientists and gender researchers working closely with breeders, allocating funding to allow exploration, testing of gender topics and responsive variety evaluation tools and strong buy-in from leadership and donors. As the SPTA case highlights, there is value in starting small, building productive partnerships and collaborating to pilot and develop proof of concept for new models.

Transformative research provides pathways for including gender and socially marginalized groups

Written by Nima Chodon on . Posted in Publications.

Intention, collaboration and commitment are critical to bridging the research and practice gap. Gender development practitioners and researchers from CGIAR centers, universities, national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES), civil society, and donor representatives this week shared insights from their research and work at the gender conference in New Delhi, India.

The discussion and exchange promises to create collaborations and opportunities devoted to improving the conditions and agency of women, youth and Indigenous communities in the Global South. “Transformative research can lead to meaningful impact,” said Angela Meentzen, senior gender researcher at CIMMYT. “We have been looking forward to this conference because coming together as researchers, scientists and development practitioners, we can discuss and share insights from each other’s practices and experiences from the field.”

Angela Meentzen (third from left) with CIMMYT colleagues from Asia and Africa at the CGIAR Gender 2023 conference in New Delhi. (Photo: Nima Chodon/CIMMYT)

Leading researchers and scientists from CIMMYT Asia and Africa presented their research and enriched the gender discussions at the conference. Meentzen said that CIMMYT is proud to support gender research that contributes meaningfully to transformative change and impact.

Below are highlights of four research poster presentations by our researchers (of the six presented by CIMMYT) at the conference:

Increased participation in agricultural processes does not mean more decision-making power for women farmers

Scientist Vijayalaxmi Khed examined how women manage excess workload (working inside and outside the house), a clear trade-off between productive and leisure time without change in domestic responsibilities. Due to domestic workload, she found that women’s time away from farms does not translate into leisure. Another important finding was that women with more agency had less time for leisure, unlike for men.

In her poster presentation, she concluded that rural women’s nexus of time poverty and decision-making has “clear implications for the development and diffusion of laborsaving technologies in agriculture.”

Working on the same study with Khed, Vijesh Krishna explored the relationship between women’s involvement in agricultural activities and decision-making. His presentation, ‘Farm managers or unpaid laborers?’, from the study covering 347 wheat-farming households across two years, concludes that “despite playing a crucial role in wheat farming in central India, most women lacked the ability to influence decisions.”

Gender-intentional maize breeding for better adoption and productivity in sub-Saharan Africa

Michael Euler, agriculture and resource economist, in his poster presentation explained how an on-farm trial to improve gender-intentional breeding and varietal adoption in maize was designed by CIMMYT breeders and researchers.

The study hypothesized that gender dynamics in household labor allocation and decision-making in maize systems influence trait preferences and farmers’ adoption of varieties. So, researchers conducted on-farm trials and household surveys with individual women and men household members to capture differences in their trait preferences in maize cultivation—production systems, seed demand and seed access—with 800 smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Euler emphasized the influence of socioeconomic and agroecological factors, including biotic–abiotic stress, in the household decisions on maize varietal adoption.

He concluded that the study results will help “guide the product development of regional maize breeding programs and strengthen communities’ adaptation to the changing environmental conditions for maize cultivation.”

Adoption of a weeding technology may lead to labor displacement of marginalized women laborers

Presenting a poster for the same session as Euler, Maxwell Mkondiwa—in a study coauthored with colleagues Khed and Krishna—highlighted how rapid diffusion of a laborsaving technology like herbicides could exclude the marginalized further. The study occurred in India’s state of Bihar, looking at nonfarming rural poor, primarily women, from socially marginalized groups.

From data on chemical weeding, the study analyzed the technology’s impact on inequality— highlighting how marginalized women laborers who work on manual weeding are then replaced by men who apply herbicides.

He stressed that not enough research is devoted to understanding whether farmer adoption of laborsaving technologies worsens economic inequalities or reinstates labor into better tasks. “We hope the evidence we generated will help researchers and policymakers develop relevant actions toward more inclusive innovations, and support laborers with new skills for the transitions,” said Mkondiwa.

Maxwell Mkondiwa presents his poster under the session Gender Dynamics in Agri-Food System Innovation at the CGIAR Gender 2023 conference. (Photo: M Mkondiwa/CIMMYT)

Women exhibit limited technical knowledge and experience social benefits differently in male-headed households of CASI technology adoption

Emma Karki, in her poster, explained that there is limited knowledge of the impact of technology adoption on women in a male-headed household in South Asia—with decision powers generally resting with male household members. The research tried to understand the gendered differences in the evaluation of technology adoption in male-headed households using conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification (CASI) technology as a case study.

The study focused on identifying the commonalities and differences in the experiences and evaluation of CASI technology. Results indicated that “despite technology adoption, women had limited mechanistic understanding compared to men, with similar limitations on women’s time use and capacity development,” said Karki.

For future CASI promotion, Karki concluded: “Reducing information gaps and incorporating technological preferences of women needs prioritizing, including creating opportunities for them to access knowledge and engage both men and women in critical discussions surrounding gender norms.”

Similarly, Moti Jaleta’s research presentation highlighted the challenges of mechanization adoption for smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, primarily women. “Intentional research, whether in gender or social development, helps identify problems and opportunities for change,” endorsed Jaleta.

Meaningful research helps achieve gender and social inclusion goals

The ‘From Research to Impact: CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform and ICAR Conference 2023’, between October 9-12, 2023, in New Delhi, gathered researchers from 68 countries. In her inaugural address at the conference’s opening, the President of India Smt. Draupadi Murmu affirmed, “For ecologically sustainable, ethically desirable, economically affordable and socially justifiable production, we need research which can enable conditions to reach these goals.”

At the end of the four-day conference—with 60 research presentations and six plenary sessions—the organizers and participants reflected on their resolve ‘From Research To Impact,’ and the promise to recognize and collectively address the gender and social inequities in agrifood systems development.

New publications: Caste-gender intersectionalities in wheat-growing communities in Madhya Pradesh, India

Written by Alison Doody on . Posted in Publications.

A new study has revealed how the ways in which caste and gender interact in wheat systems in India are changing over time, how women struggle to be involved in decisions on wheat farming, how agricultural mechanization is pushing women of all castes out of paid employment, and how women’s earnings are an important source of finance in wheat.

There is growing awareness that not all rural women are alike and that social norms and technological interventions affect women from different castes in distinct ways. The caste system in South Asia, which dates back over 3,000 years, divides society into thousands of hierarchical, mostly endogamous groups. Non-marginalized castes are classified as “general caste” while those living in the social margins are categorized as “scheduled caste” and “scheduled tribe”. Scheduled caste and scheduled tribe farmers face both social and economic marginalization and limited access to information and markets, despite government efforts to level up social inequalities.

In India, women of all castes are involved in farming activities, although their caste identity regulates the degree of participation. General caste women are less likely to be engaged in farming than women of lower castes. Despite their level of participation across caste groups, women are rarely recognized as “farmers” (Kisan) in Indian rurality, which restricts their access to inputs, information and markets.

Gender experts from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and partners investigated caste-gender relations among wheat farmers in Madhya Pradesh, India’s second-largest state by area. The team conducted focus group discussions and interviews in a village community, and carried out a review of GENNOVATE research in the same area. The team also carried out a survey involving about 800 wheat farmers from 18 village communities across the state.

Women work in the fields in India’s Madhya Pradesh state. Our study found that women are involved in all aspects of agricultural work on family farms. (Photo: CIMMYT)

The study, published last month in Gender, Technology, and Development, revealed five key findings:

First, caste distinctions are sharp. There is little interaction between women and men farmers from the scheduled caste category — even between subcastes in this category — and other castes. They live in separate enclaves, and land belonging to scheduled caste farmers is less fertile than others.

Second, all women are fully involved in all aspects of agricultural work on the family farm throughout the year.

Third, despite their strong participation in farming activities, women across caste groups are normatively excluded from agricultural decision-making in the household. Having said that, the findings were very clear that some individual women experience greater participation than others. Although women are excluded from formal agricultural information networks, they share knowledge with each other, particularly within caste groups.

Fourth, about 20 years ago, women across caste groups were being employed as hired agricultural laborers. Over the past four years, increasing mechanization is pushing many women off the field. While scheduled caste women compensate for the employment loss to a certain degree by participating in non-farm activities, general caste women are not able to move beyond the village and secure work elsewhere due to cultural norms. Women therefore face a collapse in their autonomy.

Fifth, gender poses a greater constraint than caste in determining an individual’s ability to make decisions about farm and non-farm related activities. However, a significant difference exists across the caste groups, presenting a strong case for intersectionality.

Challenging social norms in agriculture

The results of the study show that caste matters in the gendered evaluations of agricultural technologies and demonstrates the importance of studying women’s contributions and roles in wheat farming in South Asia.

In recent years, studies have revealed that women in wheat have more influence on farming decisions than previously thought, from subtle ways of giving suggestions and advice to management and control over farming decisions.

Agriculture in India is also considered to be broadly feminizing, with men increasingly taking up off-farm activities, leaving women to as primary cultivators on family fields and as hired laborers. However, rural advisory services, policy makers, and other research and development organizations are lagging behind in recognizing and reacting appropriately to these gendered changes. Many still carry outdated social norms which view men as the main decision-makers and workers on farms.

Read the full study:
Caste-gender intersectionalities in wheat-growing communities in Madhya Pradesh, India

Funding for this study was provided by the Collaborative Platform for Gender Research under the CGIAR Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets as well as the International Development Research Center of the Government of Canada, the CGIAR Research Programme on Wheat (CRP WHEAT https://wheat.org/), CIMMYT and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The paper additionally drew on GENNOVATE data collected in India in 2015–16 with financial support from CRP WHEAT. Development of the GENNOVATE research methodology was supported by the CGIAR Gender and Agricultural Research Network, the World Bank, and the CRP WHEAT and CRP MAIZE, and data analysis was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Cover photo: A woman harvests wheat in Madhya Pradesh, India. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Gender-transformative research for sustainable food systems

Written by Madeline Dahm on . Posted in Features.

This international Women’s Day, March 8, 2022, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) celebrates the essential role that women play in agriculture and food systems, and acknowledges that gender equality is essential to achieve a sustainable future. The burden of climate change impacts women disproportionately, even though we rely on them to drive change in climate adaptation, mitigation and solutions.

For example, in the last year, CIMMYT research found that educating women farming wheat in Bihar, India, increases the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices, which, in turn, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and boosts nitrogen productivity, eco-efficiency and yield. Additionally, in Mexico, a CIMMYT study found that women are less likely to default on agricultural credit than men, but seldom receive loans. Connecting women to financial capital to obtain agricultural inputs is an essential step in boosting their decision-making in food production.

Read more about our pathbreaking work in gender research in the collection of stories below!

Gender equality for climate-resilient, sustainable food systems

The CGIAR GENDER platform is hosting a side event on the margins of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66), on March 14, 2022: Women’s and girls’ empowerment: Key to equitable food systems in a changing climate?

Registration is open now.

You can also join a Twitter chat hosted by @CGIARgender on March 8, 2022.

GENDER CSW66 IWD2022

Bending gender norms

CIMMYT social researcher Pragya Timsina discusses how women’s participation in agriculture is evolving across the Eastern Gangetic Plains and a new, forthcoming study: “Necessity as a driver of bending agricultural gender norms in South Asia.”

A community gathers to shell maize by hand in Rangpur district, Bangladesh. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT)
A community gathers to shell maize by hand in Rangpur district, Bangladesh. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT)

From diagnosis to action on social equity

Building on impact of GENNOVATE, scientists recommend integrating gender-transformative research and methodologies into the new CGIAR Initiatives.

A group of farmers involved in participatory rice breeding trials near Begnas Lake, Pokhara, Nepal. (Photo: Neil Palmer/CIAT/CCAFS)
A group of farmers involved in participatory rice breeding trials near Begnas Lake, Pokhara, Nepal. (Photo: Neil Palmer/CIAT/CCAFS)

Gender mainstreaming on climate-smart agriculture

New research explores how the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices can help address environmental issues, reduce out-migration and ensure household food security.

A farmer weeds a maize field in Pusa, Bihar state, India. (Photo: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT)
A farmer weeds a maize field in Pusa, Bihar state, India. (Photo: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT)

Gender-responsive and gender-intentional maize breeding

A new paper by CIMMYT researchers takes stock of lessons learnt on gender inclusivity and maize breeding in Africa. Scientists also assess knowledge gaps that need to be filled to effectively support gender-responsive and gender-intentional breeding and seed systems work.

Alice Nasiyimu stands in front of a drought-tolerant maize plot at her family farm in Bungoma County, in western Kenya. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Alice Nasiyimu stands in front of a drought-tolerant maize plot at her family farm in Bungoma County, in western Kenya. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

Towards gender-transformative research in the CGIAR

Gender scientists from ten CGIAR centers and key partner institutions came together in a hybrid workshop to integrate gender-transformative research and methodologies into the new CGIAR Initiatives. In this series of videos, GENNOVATE partners share their insights on this topic.

Cover image: Marcelo Ortiz/CIMMYT

A woman farmer weeding maize field in Bihar, India. Photo: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT

Q&A: Spotlighting gender mainstreaming in agriculture

Written by Richa Sharma Puri on . Posted in Features.

On this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, CIMMYT speaks to Tripti Agarwal, whose research paper delves into the impact of Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices (CSAPs) on women and farming households in Bihar, India. CSAPs offer a promising solution to address environmental issues through gender-inclusive technological interventions. As we celebrate the achievements of women in science today, we see CSAPs bridging the gender gap and empowering women.

Hello Tripti, it’s great to talk to you about labor migration and how the adoption of CSAPs ensures household food security. Could you share how this approach influences gender equality in farming households? 

My paper is titled “Gendered impacts of climate-smart agriculture on household food security and labor migration: insights from Bihar, India.” Bihar is highly vulnerable to hydro-meteorological natural disasters that cause agricultural production loss. The issue is that the male workforce migrates to other cities to seek different employment opportunities and improve their families’ livelihoods, often leaving the women behind to farm. Women left behind are then responsible for household and farming activities, making them overburdened. Therefore, Climate Smart Agricultural Practices (CSAPs) could play a vital role in safeguarding the loss in production and supporting livelihoods. The concept of Climate-Smart Villages (CSVs) links this, acknowledging the gender gap and striving to promote gender-equitable approaches in knowledge enhancement, capacity development, and better practices. CSAPs empower women to support farming decision-making and a better utilization of resources

That is interesting. Would you also tell us how the CSV program addresses climatic risks from technological and social perspectives? 

As per the study I mentioned earlier, climatic stress that affects crop production directly impacts a household’s food security and, more severely, women’s food security. The CSV program promotes adopting climate-resilient practices and technologies that mitigate the risk of crop loss and ensure enough food for the household. CSV is a promising solution to address environmental issues through gender-inclusive technological interventions.

Ensuring food for the household is the most important thing. We also see that this paper highlighted the knowledge gaps between men and women farmers in terms of CSAPs. What action plan is needed to have a more equitable gender-responsive environment at the policy level? 

The paper attempts to drive the concentration of the state/policymakers in providing more opportunities to women in having access to resources. Policies or strategies — driven towards ensuring female education, knowledge and capacity building — are likely to play a significant role in providing access and control of resources to women across their lifetimes in varied areas of work.

As per the research paper, the probability of out-migration is reduced by 21% with the adoption of CSAPs. What factors do you think are the critical indicators of this trend? 

The increase in knowledge about CSAPs, both for men and women, supports household decision-making in adopting CSAPs. With the adoption of CSAPs, the increase in agricultural production reduced the compulsion of males to migrate, and better female literacy also had a negative and significant effect on male out-migration

The study also reveals that the farmer’s education has a direct impact on the adoption of CSAPs. Is there any plan to bridge this gap? Or a suggestion for the policy makers to address this issue? 

There are two steps to be covered on this front. First, to have gender-equitable knowledge dissemination and to ensure that women receive the required and necessary information about CSAPs. For this, the role of women in society needs to be strengthened and would primarily come from (i) support from the family & society and (ii) right to education. Second, knowledge alone is not enough to contribute to economic activities. Gender-inclusive strategies need to be framed and implemented to provide women the required access and control over resources. For this, multi-sectoral efforts are necessary, like having policies from the government, corporates supporting the cost of efforts, specialized agencies providing the expertise, NGO partners working with the community, and foremost, support from the society.

Very rightly said, and we hope that some strong measures are taken at the policy level. Today, women play a huge role in agriculture; thus, it becomes vital to enhance their capacities, especially in newer technologies. In this context, what approaches can you suggest to strengthening their skills and knowledge to achieve a gender-empowered agricultural domain? 

There is no limit to enhancing the skills and capacities of an individual. And when we talk about women, especially in rural/agricultural contexts, we see that support from the family is critical for them. To ensure that, we need ways to educate men on how women can support them in providing better livelihoods. Creating plans and roadmaps for women would help achieve a gender-empowered agricultural domain, but we must also bring behavior change among men towards a more accepting role of women in farming and decision making.

One last question related to this special day. Why do you love your work? And how is science exciting for you?

I was assigned the position of Project Administrator; however, after working for many years with a team of experts, my interest in research slowly ignited. Thanks to the support I received, I decided to work closely on the subject and identify the areas where I may add value. Linking my knowledge and field studies, I started contributing to relevant publications like this one, which is the output of my years of experience at CIMMYT. I received a lot of support from my team, especially from Dr. M.L. Jat, who has been a great mentor throughout my journey of learning and growth.

M.L. Jat is a Principal Scientist at CIMMYT and co-author of the article. Building on this publication, CIMMYT’s gender research will be further strengthened under the One CGIAR Regional Integrated Initiative on Transforming Agri-Food Systems in South Asia (TAFSSA), which has a core learning site in Bihar.

A group of farmers involved in participatory rice breeding trials near Begnas Lake, Pokhara, Nepal. (Photo: Neil Palmer/CIAT/CCAFS)

From diagnosis to action on social equity

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on . Posted in Blogs.

A group of farmers involved in participatory rice breeding trials near Begnas Lake, Pokhara, Nepal. (Photo: Neil Palmer/CIAT/CCAFS)
A group of farmers involved in participatory rice breeding trials near Begnas Lake, Pokhara, Nepal. (Photo: Neil Palmer/CIAT/CCAFS)

As CGIAR develops 33 exciting new research Initiatives, it is essential for its new research portfolio to move beyond “diagnosing gender issues” and to supporting real change for greater social equity. Gender-transformative research and methodologies are needed, co-developed between scientists and a wide range of partners.

To advance this vision, gender scientists from ten CGIAR centers and key partner institutions came together from October 25 to 27, 2021, in a hybrid workshop. Some participants were in Amsterdam, hosted by KIT, and others joined online from Canada, the Philippines and everywhere in between.

The workshop emerged from gender scientists’ desire to create a supportive innovation space for CGIAR researchers to integrate gender-transformative research and methodologies into the new CGIAR Initiatives.

The organizing team calls this effort GENNOVATE 2, as it builds on GENNOVATE, the trailblazing gender research project which ran across the CGIAR between 2014 and 2018.

GENNOVATE 2 promises to help CGIAR Initiatives achieve progress in the Gender, Youth and Social Inclusion Impact Area. It will also advance change towards Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 10 on gender and other forms of inequality.

In the workshop, participants sought to:

  • Share and develop ideas, methods and approaches to operationalize gender-transformative research and methodologies. Working groups focused on an initial selection of CGIAR Initiatives, representing all the Action Areas of CGIAR:
    • ClimBeR: Building Systemic Resilience against Climate Variability and Extremes; (Systems Transformation)
    • Securing the Asian Mega-Deltas from Sea-level Rise, Flooding, Salinization and Water Insecurity (Resilient Agrifood Systems)
    • Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems (Resilient Agrifood Systems)
    • Market Intelligence and Product Profiling (Genetic Innovation)
  • Build on the significant investments, methods, data, and results from the original GENNOVATE.
  • Conceive a community of practice for continued sharing, learning and collaboration, across and within Initiatives, to accelerate progress on gender and social equity.
Participants at the GENNOVATE 2 workshop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in October 2021.
Participants at the GENNOVATE 2 workshop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in October 2021.

Joining a vibrant community

GENNOVATE 2 is envisioned to complement the CGIAR GENDER Platform and the proposed new CGIAR gender-focused research Initiative, HER+.

“We have several gender methodology assets in CGIAR, and GENNOVATE is one of them,” said Nicoline de Haan, Director of the CGIAR GENDER Platform, opening the workshop. “We want to make sure we cultivate and grow the efforts started during GENNOVATE and move forward important lessons and practices in the new CGIAR portfolio.”

The team of scientists behind GENNOVATE 2 wants to support a vibrant community of researchers who “work out loud.” They will document and share their research methodologies, experiences and insights, in order to accelerate learning on gender issues and scale out successes more quickly.

The ultimate objectives of GENNOVATE 2 are to:

  • Develop and deepen a set of methodologies expected to directly empower women, youth, and marginalized groups in the targeted agri-food systems
  • Contribute to normative change towards increased gender equality across different scales, ranging from households to countries.
  • Generate and build an evidence base on the relationship between empowering women, youth and marginalized people, and moving towards climate-resilient and sustainable agri-food systems — and vice versa.

“An example of the added value GENNOVATE 2 can bring to CGIAR Initiatives is understanding what maintains prevailing gender norms in research sites, and also at relevant institutional and political levels,” said Anne Rietveld, gender scientist at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and co-organizer of the workshop. “This will enable CGIAR scientists, partners and policymakers to design locally relevant gender-transformative approaches and policies for more impact. We can do this by building on our GENNOVATE 1 evidence base, adapting methods from GENNOVATE 1 and co-developing new methods in GENNOVATE 2.”

Participants at the GENNOVATE 2 workshop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in October 2021.
Participants at the GENNOVATE 2 workshop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in October 2021.

What’s next?

The workshop showed that many scientists from CGIAR and partner institutes are motivated to invest in the vision of GENNOVATE 2. Achieving impact in the Gender, Youth and Social Inclusion Impact Area will require concerted efforts and inputs from scientists on the ground.

“There is a groundswell of experience and enthusiasm that you, we, this group brings. We need answers and we can and should work together to make this a reality,” remarked Jon Hellin, Platform Leader – Sustainable Impact in Rice-based Systems at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and co-lead of the ClimBeR Initiative.

The organizing team listed concrete actions to follow the workshop:

  • Developing processes and spaces for discussing methodological advancements among the gender scientists in these four Initiatives which other Initiatives can tap into, contribute to and become part of.
  • To develop these shared and integrated methodologies and approaches into a GENNOVATE 2 conceptual and methodological roadmap — to contribute to the CGIAR Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion Impact Area and guide other Initiatives, as well as bilateral research
  • To develop a position paper articulating what can be achieved through concerted efforts to integrate gender and social equity more effectively into the Initiatives, to showcase gender-transformative research methods for further development and implementation. The aim of the position paper is to influence global science leaders and CGIAR leadership in how they include issues of social equity in the Initiatives.
  • To support these conversations, learnings and harmonization processes through setting up a community of practice, where the “practice” to be improved is the practice of advancing gender research methodologies to go from diagnosis to action. This will start with a core group of enthusiastic researchers and then will expand as it gains momentum, so that all researchers in the various Initiatives interested in social equity can contribute
  • To seek funding opportunities to support the activities outlined above.

The GENNOVATE 2 organizing team welcomes the participation of interested CGIAR Initiatives as they move forward. The organizing team will also help strengthen interactions with external resource people and research networks, in to cross-pollinate new knowledge and innovations.

If you would like to know more about GENNOVATE 2, please contact Anne Rietveld, Gender Scientist at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and Hom Gartaula, Gender and Social Inclusion Specialist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

The GENNOVATE 2 workshop was supported with funds from the CGIAR Research Programs on Roots Tubers and Bananas, Maize, and Wheat.

Workshop organizers Anne Rietveld (Alliance), Cathy Rozel Farnworth (Pandia Consulting, an independent gender researcher), Diana Lopez (WUR) and Hom Gartaula (CIMMYT) guided participants. Arwen Bailey (Alliance) served as facilitator.

Participants were: Renee Bullock (ILRI); Afrina Choudhury (WorldFish); Marlene Elias (Alliance); Gundula Fischer (IITA); Eleanor Fisher (The Nordic Africa Institute/ClimBeR); Alessandra Galie (ILRI); Elisabeth Garner (Cornell University/Market Intelligence); Nadia Guettou (Alliance); Jon Hellin (IRRI); Deepa Joshi (IWMI); Berber Kramer (IFPRI); Els Lecoutere (CGIAR GENDER Platform); Angela Meentzen (CIMMYT); Gaudiose Mujawamariya (AfricaRice); Surendran Rajaratnam (WorldFish); Bela Teeken (IITA), among others.

External experts who provided methodological inputs were: Nick Vandenbroucke of Trias talking about institutional change; Shreya Agarwal of Digital Green talking about transformative data; Katja Koegler of Oxfam Novib talking about Gender Action Learning Systems (GALS) for community-led empowerment; and Phil Otieno of Advocates for Social Change (ADSOCK) talking about masculinities and working with men.

Breaking Ground: Jordan Chamberlin avidly explores the changing landscapes of Africa

Written by JĂ©rĂŽme Bossuet on . Posted in Features.

Sub-Saharan Africa is undergoing important transformations, including climate change, population growth, urbanization and migration flows, and growth in digital technologies. What can we say about the likely development trajectories that African rural economies are on, and the implications for poor farming households? These are central questions for Jordan Chamberlin, an economist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Kenya.

Chamberlin’s desk is covered with screens teeming with numbers, complex mathematical equations, lines of code and aerial views of African landscapes. He combines traditional microeconomic analysis with geospatial modelling skills to study some of the ways in which rural transformations are occurring. In this era of big data, he examines the wealth of spatial and socioeconomic datasets to explore the relationships between drivers of change and smallholder welfare, sometimes revealing surprising insights on how rural communities in Africa are evolving.

“Are commercial farms good or bad for neighboring smallholder farmers? Which households can benefit from the rapidly evolving rural land markets in Africa? What drives migration between rural areas? These are some examples of the complex but increasingly important questions that inform how we understand the evolution of agri-food systems in developing countries,” Chamberlin explains. “Fortunately, we also increasingly have access to new data that helps us explore these issues.”

In addition to household survey datasets — the bread and butter of applied social scientists — today’s researchers are also able to draw on an ever-expanding set of geospatial data that helps us to better contextualize the decisions smallholder farmers make.

He cites current work, which seeks to understand input adoption behaviors through better measurement of the biophysical and marketing contexts in which small farms operate. “Evidence suggests that low use rates of inorganic fertilizer by smallholders is due in part to poor expected returns on such investments,” he explains, “which are the result of site-specific agronomic responses, rainfall uncertainty, variation in input-output price ratios, and other factors.”

We are increasingly able to control for such factors explicitly: one of Chamberlin’s recent papers shows the importance of soil organic carbon for location-specific economic returns to fertilizer investments in Tanzania. “After all, farmers do not care about yields for yields’ sake — they make agronomic investments on the basis of how those investments affect their economic welfare.”

Better data and models may help to explain why farmers sometimes do not adopt technologies that we generally think of as profitable. A related strand of his research seeks to better model the spatial distribution of rural market prices.

Jordan Chamberlin (left) talks to a farmer in Ethiopia’s Tigray region in 2019, while conducting research on youth outmigration from rural areas. (Photo: Jordan Chamberlin)
Jordan Chamberlin (left) talks to a farmer in Ethiopia’s Tigray region in 2019, while conducting research on youth outmigration from rural areas. (Photo: Jordan Chamberlin)

A spatial economist’s journey on Earth

Ever since his experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay, where he worked as a beekeeping specialist, Chamberlin knew he wanted to spend his professional life working with smallholder farmers. He wanted to better understand how rural development takes place, and how policies and investments can help rural households to improve their welfare.

In pursuit of these interests, his academic journey took him from anthropology to quantitative geography, before leading him to agricultural economics. “While my fundamental interest in rural development has not changed, the analytical tools I have preferred have evolved over the years, and my training reflects that evolution,” he says.

Along with his research interests, he has always been passionate about working with institutions within the countries where his research has focused. While working with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Ethiopia, he helped establish a policy-oriented GIS lab at the Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI). Years later, as part of his work with Michigan State University, he served as director of capacity building at the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI), a not-for-profit Zambian research organization. He continues to serve as an external advisor on PhD committees, and considers mentorship a key part of his professional commitments.

He joined CIMMYT at the Ethiopia office in 2015 as spatial economist, part of the foresight and ex ante group of the Socioeconomics program.

As part of his research portfolio, he explores the role of new technologies, data sources and extension methods in the scaling of production technologies. Under the Taking Maize Agronomy to Scale in Africa (TAMASA) project, one area he has been working on is how we may better design location-specific agronomic advisory tools. Working with the Nutrient Expert tool, developed by the African Plant Nutrition Institute (APNI), he and his research team have conducted randomized control trials in Ethiopia and Nigeria to evaluate the impacts of such decision-support tools on farmer investments and productivity outcomes. They found that such tools appear to contribute to productivity gains, although tool design matters — for example, Nigerian farmers were more likely to take up site-specific agronomic recommendations when such information was accompanied by information about uncertainty of financial returns.

Jordan Chamberlin (center) talks to colleagues during a staff gathering in Nairobi. (Photo. Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Jordan Chamberlin (center) talks to colleagues during a staff gathering in Nairobi. (Photo. Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

Creative rethinking

While Chamberlin’s research portfolio is diverse, one commonality is the drive to use new data and tools to better guide how development resources are allocated.

“Given the scarcity of resources available to governments and their partners, it is important to have sound empirical foundations for the allocation of these resources. Within CIMMYT, I see my role as part of a multidisciplinary team whose goal is to generate such empirical guidance,” he says.

This research also contributes to better design of agricultural development policies.

“Even though many of the research topics that my team addresses are not traditional areas of emphasis within CIMMYT’s socioeconomic work, I hope that we are demonstrating the value of broad thinking about development questions, which are of fundamental importance to one of our core constituencies: the small farmers of the region’s maize and wheat-based farming systems.”

Maize and other food crops on sale at Ijaye market, Oyo State, Nigeria. (Photo: Adebayo O./IITA)

New publications: Power, agency and benefits among women and men maize farmers

Written by Emma Orchardson on . Posted in Publications.

For smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, new agricultural technologies such as improved maize varieties offer numerous benefits — increased incomes, lower workloads and better food security, among others. However, when new technologies are introduced, they can denaturalize and expose gender norms and power relations because their adoption inevitably requires women and men to renegotiate the rules of the game. The adoption of new varieties will often be accompanied by a number of related decisions on the allocation of farm labor, the purchase and use of inorganic fertilizers, switching crops between women- and men-managed plots, and the types of benefit household members expect to secure may change.

In an article published this month in Gender, Technology and Development, researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) explore how women in Nigeria negotiate these new power dynamics to access and secure the benefits of improved maize varieties and, more broadly, to expand their decision-making space.

Using focus group and interview data collected as part of the GENNOVATE project, the authors draw on case studies from four villages — two in the northern states of Kaduna and Plateau; two in the southwestern state of Oyo — to develop an understanding of the relationship between gender norms, women’s ability and willingness to express their agency, and the uptake of agricultural technologies. “This is an important step toward improving the capacity of agricultural research for development to design and scale innovations,” say the authors. “Achieving this ambition is highly relevant to maize.”

The results were similar across all four sites. The authors found that women in each area were constrained by powerful gender norms which privilege male agency and largely frown upon women’s empowerment, thus limiting their ability to maximize the benefits from improved varieties or realize their agency in other domains.

All women respondents remarked that improved maize varieties were easy to adopt, have higher yields and mature quickly, which meant that income flows started earlier and helped them meet household expenditures on time. They prioritized the contribution of improved maize to securing household food security, which helped them meet their ascribed gender roles as food providers.

“At the same time though, women felt they could not maximize their benefits from improved maize varieties due to men’s dominance in decision-making,” the authors explain. “This was particularly the case for married women.”

“Men are meant to travel far – not women”

Woman selling white maize at Bodija market in Ibadan, Nigeria. (Photo: Adebayo O./IITA)
Woman selling white maize at Bodija market in Ibadan, Nigeria. (Photo: Adebayo O./IITA)

Embedded gender norms – particularly those relating to mobility – infuse the wider environment and mean that women’s access to opportunities is considerably more restricted than it is for men.

The findings demonstrate that both women and men farmers secure benefits from improved maize varieties. However, men accrue more benefits and benefit directly, as they have unfettered mobility and opportunity. They can access markets that are further away, and the maize they sell is unprocessed and requires no transformation. Additionally, men do not question their right to devote profits from maize primarily to their own concerns, nor their right to secure a high level of control over the money women make.

On the other hand, women respondents — regardless of age and income cohort — repeatedly stated that while it is hard to earn significant money from local sales of the processed maize products they make, it is also very difficult for them to enter large markets selling unprocessed, improved maize.

The difficulties women face in trying to grow maize businesses may be partly related to a lack of business acumen and experience, but a primary reason is limited personal mobility in all four communities. For example, in Sabon Birni village, Kaduna, women lamented that though the local market is not large enough to accommodate their maize processing and other agri-business ventures, they are not permitted travel to markets further afield where ‘there are always people ready to buy’.

“Women’s benefits relate to the fact that improved maize varieties increase the absolute size of the ‘maize cake’,” say the authors. “They expect to get a larger slice as a consequence. However, the absolute potential of improved varieties for boosting women’s incomes and other options of importance to women is hampered by gender norms that significantly restrict their agency.”

The implications for maize research and development are that an improved understanding of the complex relational nature of empowerment is essential when introducing new agricultural technologies.

Read the full paper:
Unequal partners: associations between power, agency and benefits among women and men maize farmers in Nigeria

Other recent publications from GENNOVATE:

Continuity and Change: Performing Gender in Rural Tanzania

Engaging men in gender-equitable practices in maize systems of sub-Saharan Africa

Cover photo: Maize and other food crops on sale at Ijaye market, Oyo State, Nigeria. (Photo: Adebayo O./IITA)

Read more recent publications by CIMMYT researchers:

  1. Phenotypic characterization of Canadian barley advanced breeding lines for multiple disease resistance. 2019. Osman, M., Xinyao He, Capettini, F., Helm, J., Singh, P.K. In: Cereal Research Communications v. 47, no. 3, pg. 484-495.
  2. Tillage and crop rotations enhance populations of earthworms, termites, dung beetles and centipedes: evidence from a long-term trial in Zambia. 2019. Muoni, T., Mhlanga, B., Forkman, J., Sitali, M., Thierfelder, C. In: Journal of Agricultural Science v. 157, no. 6, pg. 504-514.
  3. Genética de la resistencia a roya amarilla causada por Puccinia striiiformis f. sp. tritici W. en tres genotipos de trigo (Triticum aestivum L.) = Genetics of the resistance to yellow rust caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici W. in three genotypes of wheat (Tritcum aestivum L.). 2019. Rodriguez-Garcia, M.F., Rojas Martínez, R.I., Huerta-Espino, J., Villaseñor Mir, H.E., Zavaleta Mejía, E., Sandoval-Islas, S., Crossa, J. In: Revista Fitotecnia Mexicana v. 42, no. 1, pg. 31-38.
  4. Mapping of maize storage losses due to insect pests in central Mexico. 2019. GarcĂ­a-Lara, S., GarcĂ­a-Jaimes, E., Bergvinson, D.J. In: Journal of Stored Products Research v. 84, art. 101529.
  5. Analysis of distribution systems for supply of synthetic grain protectants to maize smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe: implications for hermetic grain storage bag distribution. 2019. Govereh, J., Muchetu, R.G., Mvumi, B.M., Chuma, T. In: Journal of Stored Products Research v. 84, art. 101520.
  6. Agronomic performance and susceptibility of seven Ghanaian improved sweet potato varieties to the sweet potato weevil, Cylas spp. (Coleoptera: Brentidae) in Coastal Savanna zone of Ghana. 2019. Adom, M., Fening, K.O., Wilson, D.D., Adofo, K., Bruce, A.Y. In: African Entomology v. 27, no. 2, pg. 312-321.
  7. Validation of candidate gene-based markers and identification of novel loci for thousand-grain weight in spring bread wheat. 2019. Sehgal, D., Mondal, S., Guzman, C., Garcia Barrios, G., Franco, C., Singh, R.P., Dreisigacker, S. In: Frontiers in Plant Science v. 19, art. 1189.
  8. Genomic prediction and genome-wide association studies of flour yield and alveograph quality traits using advanced winter wheat breeding material. 2019. Kristensen, P.S., Jensen, J., Andersen, J.P., Guzman, C., Orabi, J., Jahoor, A. In: Genes v. 10, no. 9, art. 669.
  9. Identification of superior doubled haploid maize (Zea mays) inbred lines derived from high oil content subtropical populations. 2019. Silva-Venancio, S., Preciado-Ortiz, R.E., Covarrubias-Prieto, J., OrtĂ­z-Islas, S., Serna-Saldivar, S.O., GarcĂ­a-Lara, S., Terron Ibarra, A., Palacios-Rojas, N. In: Maydica v. 64, no. 1, pg. 1-11.
  10. Tillage and residue-management effects on productivity, profitability and soil properties in a rice-maize-mungbean system in the Eastern Gangetic Plains. 2019. Rashid, M.H., Timsina, J., Islam, N., Saiful Islam. In: Journal of Crop Improvement v. 33, no. 5, pg. 683-710.
  11. Mapping of genetic loci conferring resistance to leaf rust from three globally resistant durum wheat sources. 2019. Kthiri, D., Loladze, A., N’Diaye, A., Nilsen, K., Walkowiak, S., Dreisigacker, S., Ammar, K., Pozniak, C.J. In: Frontiers in Plant Science v. 10, art. 1247.
  12. Compost amended with N enhances maize productivity and soil properties in semi-arid agriculture. 2019. Shahid Iqbal, Arif, M., Khan, H.Z., Yasmeen, T., Thierfelder, C., Tang Li, Khan, S., Nadir, S., Jianchu Xu In: Agronomy Journal v. 111 no. 5, pg. 2536-2544.
  13. Simulation-based maize–wheat cropping system optimization in the midhills of Nepal. 2019. Laborde, J.P., Wortmann, C.S., Blanco-Canqui, H., McDonald, A., Lindquist, J.L. In: Agronomy Journal v. 111, no. 5, pg. 2569-2581.
  14. Affordability linked with subsidy: impact of fertilizers subsidy on household welfare in Pakistan. 2019. Ali, A., Rahut, D.B., Imtiaz, M. In: Sustainability v. 11, no. 19, art. 5161.
  15. Field-specific nutrient management using Rice Crop Manager decision support tool in Odisha, India. 2019. Sharma, S., Rout, K.K., Khanda, C.M., Tripathi, R., Shahid, M., Nayak, A.D., Satpathy, S.D., Banik, N.C., Iftikar, W., Parida, N., Kumar, V., Mishra, A., Castillo, R.L., Velasco, T., Buresh, R.J. In: Field Crops Research v. 241, art. 107578.
  16. Balanced nutrient requirements for maize in the Northern Nigerian Savanna: parameterization and validation of QUEFTS model. 2019. Shehu, B.M., Lawan, B.A., Jibrin, J. M., Kamara, A. Y., Mohammed, I.B., Rurinda, J., Shamie Zingore, Craufurd, P., Vanlauwe, B., Adam, A.M., Merckx, R. In: Field Crops Research v. 241, art. 107585.
  17. Factor analysis to investigate genotype and genotype × environment interaction effects on pro-      vitamin A content and yield in maize synthetics. 2019. Mengesha, W., Menkir, A., Meseka, S., Bossey, B., Afolabi, A., Burgueño, J., Crossa, J. In: Euphytica v. 215, no. 11, art. 180.
  18. Agricultural productivity and soil carbon dynamics: a bioeconomic model. 2019. Berazneva, J., Conrad, J.M., GĂŒereña, D. T., Lehmann, J., Woolf, D. In: American Journal of Agricultural Economics v. 101, no.4, pg. 1021-1046.
  19. Effect of manures and fertilizers on soil physical properties, build-up of macro and micronutrients and uptake in soil under different cropping systems: a review. 2019. Dhaliwal, S.S., Naresh, R.K., Mandal, A., Walia, M.K., Gupta, R.K., Singh, R., Dhaliwal, M.K. In: Journal of Plant Nutrition v. 42, no. 2, pg. 2873-2900.
  20. Combined study on genetic diversity of wheat genotypes using SNP marker and phenotypic reaction to Heterodera filipjevi. 2019. Majd Taheri, Z., Tanha Maafi, Z., Nazari, K., Zaynali Nezhad, K., Rakhshandehroo, F., Dababat, A.A. In: Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution v. 66, no. 8, pg. 1791-1811.
  21. Characterization of QTLs for seedling resistance to tan spot and septoria nodorum blotch in the PBW343/Kenya Nyangumi wheat recombinant inbred lines population. 2019. Singh, P.K., Sukhwinder-Singh, Zhiying Deng, Xinyao He, Kehel, Z., Singh, R.P. In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences v. 20, no. 21, art. 5432.
  22. Rapid identification and characterization of genetic loci for defective kernel in bread wheat. 2019. Chao Fu, Jiuyuan Du, Xiuling Tian, He Zhonghu, Luping Fu, Yue Wang, Dengan Xu, Xiaoting Xu, Xianchun Xia, Zhang Yan, Shuanghe Cao In: BMC Plant Biology v. 19, no. 1, art. 483.
  23. Nitrogen fertilizer rate increases plant uptake and soil availability of essential nutrients in continuous maize production in Kenya and Zimbabwe. 2019. Pasley, H.R., Cairns, J.E., Camberato, J.J., Vyn, T.J. In: Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems v. 115, no. 3, pg. 373-389.
  24. Identification of a conserved ph1b-mediated 5DS–5BS crossing over site in soft-kernel durum wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) lines. 2019. Ibba, M.I., Mingyi Zhang, Xiwen Cai, Morris, C.F. In: Euphytica v. 215, art. 200.
  25. Optimum and decorrelated constrained multistage linear phenotypic selection indices theory. 2019. Ceron Rojas, J.J., Toledo, F.H., Crossa, J. In: Crop Science v. 59, no. 6, pg. 2585-2600.
  26. Comparison of weighted and unweighted stage-wise analysis for genome-wide association studies and genomic selection. 2019. Tigist Mideksa Damesa, Hartung, J., Gowda, M., Beyene, Y., Das, B., Fentaye Kassa Semagn, Piepho, H.P. In: Crop Science v. 59, no. 6, pg. 2572-2584.
  27. Effects of drought and low nitrogen stress on provitamin a carotenoid content of biofortified maize hybrids. 2019. Ortiz-Covarrubias, Y., Dhliwayo, T., Palacios-Rojas, N., Thokozile Ndhlela, Magorokosho, C., Aguilar Rincón, V.H., Cruz-Morales, A.S., Trachsel, S. In: Crop Science v. 59, no. 6, pg. 2521-2532.
  28. Designing interventions in local value chains for improved health and nutrition: insights from Malawi. 2019. Donovan, J.A., Gelli, A. In: World Development Perspectives v. 16, art. 100149.
Gender Dynamics in Seed Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa and Worldwide Lessons workshop

Lessons for gender in seed systems

Written by Mary Donovan on . Posted in Videos.

Seed systems are complex and dynamic, involving diverse, interdisciplinary actors. Women play an important role in the seed value chain, although underlying social and cultural norms can impact their equal participation. Gender-sensitive seed systems will create more opportunities for women and increase food security.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) convened a multi-stakeholder technical workshop titled, “Gender dynamics in seed systems in sub-Saharan Africa and worldwide lessons” on December 2, 2019, in Nairobi, Kenya. Researchers and development practitioners operating in the nexus of gender and seed systems shared lessons learned and research findings to identify knowledge gaps and exchange ideas on promising — and implementable — interventions and approaches that expand opportunities for women in the seed sector.

Women harvest wheat in India. (Photo: J. Cumes/CIMMYT)

New publications: From working in the fields to taking control

Written by Alison Doody on . Posted in Publications. 1 Comment on New publications: From working in the fields to taking control

Using data from 12 communities across four Indian states, an international team of researchers has shed new light on how women are gradually innovating and influencing decision-making in wheat-based systems.

The study, published this month in The European Journal of Development Research, challenges stereotypes of men being the sole decision-makers in wheat-based systems and performing all the work. The authors, which include researchers from the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT)-funded GENNOVATE initiative, show that women adopt specific strategies to further their interests in the context of wheat-based livelihoods.

In parts of India, agriculture has become increasingly feminized in response to rising migration of men from rural areas to cities. An increasing proportion of women, relative to men, are working in the fields. However, little is known about whether these women are actually taking key decisions.

The authors distinguish between high gender gap communities — identified as economically vibrant and highly male-dominant — and low gender gap communities, which are also economically vibrant but where women have a stronger say and more room to maneuver.

The study highlights six strategies women adopt to participate actively in decision-making. These range from less openly challenging strategies that the authors term acquiescence, murmuring, and quiet co-performance (typical of high gender gap communities), to more assertive ones like active consultation, women managing, and finally, women deciding (low gender gap communities).

In acquiescence, for example, women are fully conscious that men do not expect them to take part in agricultural decision-making, but do not articulate any overt forms of resistance.

In quiet co-performance, some middle-income women in high gender gap communities begin to quietly support men’s ability to innovate, for example by helping to finance the innovation, and through carefully nuanced ‘suggestions’ or ‘advice.’ They don’t openly question that men take decisions in wheat production. Rather, they appear to use male agency to support their personal and household level goals.

In the final strategy, women take all decisions in relation to farming and innovation. Their husbands recognize this process is happening and support it.

A wheat farmer in India. (Photo: J. Cumes/CIMMYT)
A wheat farmer in India. (Photo: J. Cumes/CIMMYT)

“One important factor in stronger women’s decision-making capacity is male outmigration. This is a reality in several of the low gender gap villages studied—and it is a reality in many other communities in India. Another is education—many women and their daughters talked about how empowering this is,” said gender researcher and lead-author Cathy Farnworth.

In some communities, the study shows, women and men are adapting by promoting women’s “managerial” decision-making. However, the study also shows that in most locations the extension services have failed to recognize the new reality of male absence and women decision-makers. This seriously hampers women, and is restricting agricultural progress.

Progressive village heads are critical to progress, too. In some communities, they are inclusive of women but in others, they marginalize women. Input suppliers — including machinery providers — also have a vested interest in supporting women farm managers. Unsurprisingly, without the support of extension services, village heads, and other important local actors, women’s ability to take effective decisions is reduced.

“The co-authors, partners at Glasgow Caledonian University and in India, were very important to both obtaining the fieldwork data, and the development of the typology” said Lone Badstue, researcher at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and another co-author of the paper.

The new typology will allow researchers and development partners to better understand empowerment dynamics and women’s agency in agriculture. The authors argue that development partners should support these strategies but must ultimately leave them in the hands of women themselves to manage.

“It’s an exciting study because the typology can be used by anyone to distinguish between the ways women (and men) express their ideas and get to where they want”, concluded Farnworth.

Read the full article in The European Journal of Development Research:
From Working in the Fields to Taking Control. Towards a Typology of Women’s Decision-Making in Wheat in India

Women harvest wheat in India. (Photo: J. Cumes/CIMMYT)
Women harvest wheat in India. (Photo: J. Cumes/CIMMYT)

See more recent publications from CIMMYT researchers:

  1. isqg: A Binary Framework for in Silico Quantitative Genetics. 2019. Toledo, F.H., Perez-Rodriguez, P., Crossa, J., Burgueño, J. In: G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics v. 9, no. 8, pag. 2425-2428
  2. Short-term impacts of conservation agriculture on soil physical properties and productivity in the midhills of Nepal. 2019. Laborde, J.P., Wortmann, C.S., Blanco-Canqui, H., McDonald, A., Baigorria, G.A., Lindquist, J.L. In: Agronomy Journal v.111, no. 4, pag. 2128-2139.
  3. Meloidogyne arenaria attacking eggplant in Souss region, Morocco. 2019. Mokrini, F., El Aimani, A., Abdellah Houari, Bouharroud, R., Ahmed Wifaya, Dababat, A.A. In: Australasian Plant Disease Notes v. 14, no. 1, art. 30.
  4. Differences in women’s and men’s conservation of cacao agroforests in coastal Ecuador. 2019. Blare, T., Useche, P. In: Environmental Conservation v. 46, no. 4, pag. 302-309.
  5. Assessment of the individual and combined effects of Rht8 and Ppd-D1a on plant height, time to heading and yield traits in common wheat. 2019. Kunpu Zhang, Junjun Wang, Huanju Qin, Zhiying Wei, Libo Hang, Pengwei Zhang, Reynolds, M.P., Daowen Wang In: The Crop Journal v. 7, no. 6, pag. 845-856.
  6. Quantifying carbon for agricultural soil management: from the current status toward a global soil information system. 2019. Paustian, K., Collier, S., Baldock, J., Burgess, R., Creque, J., DeLonge, M., Dungait, J., Ellert, B., Frank, S., Goddard, T., Govaerts, B., Grundy, M., Henning, M., Izaurralde, R.C., Madaras, M., McConkey, B., Porzig, E., Rice, C., Searle, R., Seavy, N., Skalsky, R., Mulhern, W., Jahn, M. In: Carbon Management v. 10, no. 6, pag. 567-587.
  7. Factors contributing to maize and bean yield gaps in Central America vary with site and agroecological conditions. 2019. Eash, L., Fonte, S.J., Sonder, K., Honsdorf, N., Schmidt, A., Govaerts, B., Verhulst, N. In: Journal of Agricultural Science v. 157, no. 4, pag. 300-317.
  8. Genome editing, gene drives, and synthetic biology: will they contribute to disease-resistance crops, and who will benefit?. 2019. Pixley, K.V., Falck-Zepeda, J.B., Giller, K.E., Glenna, L.L., Gould, F., Mallory-Smith, C., Stelly, D.M., Stewart Jr, C.N. In: Annual Review of Phytopathology v. 57, pag. 165-188.
  9. Rice mealybug (Brevennia rehi): a potential threat to rice in a long-term rice-based conservation agriculture system in the middle Indo-Gangetic Plain. 2019. Mishra, J. S., Poonia, S. P., Choudhary, J.S., Kumar, R., Monobrullah, M., Verma, M., Malik, R.K., Bhatt, B. P. In: Current Science v. 117, no. 4, 566-568.
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Researchers urged to use common gender keywords to improve data impact

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Features.

A common approach toward data structuring is needed to improve access to gender research across agriculture data repositories, a recent report by the CGIAR Platform on Big Data in Agriculture suggests.

Simply adding the keyword ‘gender’ in database descriptions will improve the findability of gender agricultural research, which currently is hard to find due to the inconsistent use of keywords and tagging, said the report’s author Marcelo Tyszler, a (gender) data expert with the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) in the Netherlands.

“The data is there. We just can’t find it all! A lack of consistent keywords when tagging research is leading to holes in searches for gender research across CGIAR, the world’s largest network of agricultural researchers,” he says.

“A more systematic and sharper use of keywords when describing datasets will improve findability in searches,” Tyszler states.

As part of the Findability of Gender Datasets report, researchers used a range of keywords, including ‘gender’, ‘women’ and ‘female,’ to search repositories for gender-based data across CGIAR agricultural research centers and compared the search results with a reference list of gender datasets provided by scientists. The results showed that a number of the datasets in the reference list were not found using these search terms.

The results uncovered important inconsistencies in the description of gender research, especially in terms of how data is structured and the detail of documentation provided in CGIAR repositories, says co-author Ewen Le Borgne, a KIT gender researcher.

“Poor data management limits the impact of research to be found, read and incorporated into new research projects,” Le Borgne says, invoking the age old saying, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

Ibu Rosalina arranging a Kacang Panjang bush. (Credit: Icaro Cooke Vieira/CIFOR)

The researchers used the findings to promote a standardized approach to tagging and describing their research.

“To improve findability and the impact of data, the gender community should develop a list of commonly agreed keywords that can be used to consistently describe gender research data sets,” Le Borgne explains.

Any dataset containing ‘sex-disaggregated’ data should indicate so in the keywords, said Tyszler.  This is also important for non-gender researchers, to broaden the scope of their impact.

“By facilitating the tagging, findability and accessibility of quantitative and qualitative gender data we hope to facilitate mixed methods research by providing opportunities for both qualitative and quantitative researchers to exchange insights and create a stronger dialogue,” he explains.

Moreover, across the CGIAR there is a wealth of gender specific qualitative data collected through focus groups, interviews and other participatory research. As CGIAR continues to advance gender research efforts, big data is unearthing exciting opportunities for understanding and acting on the relationships among gender, agriculture, and rapidly digitizing economies and societies. However, varied approaches to data management is restricting access, thus limiting the impact data can have when other researchers aim to reuse results to gain deeper insights.

Moving beyond the ‘gender’ tag

Lubuk Beringin villagers cut off palm nut fruits at Lubuk Beringin village, Bungo district, Jambi province, Indonesia. (Credit: Tri Saputro/CIFOR)

Not surprisingly, ‘gender’ was the most common keyword used to describe data found in the study. Although it is essential for researchers to add the ‘gender’ keyword to research descriptions they must also go further in describing what the dataset represents, the researchers indicated.

“‘Gender’ is not precise enough a keyword to find all relevant gender-focused datasets. However, our search shows very few details as to what, about gender, is studied in each project,” says Tyszler.

Studies in other fields, for example nutrition, seem to have much more granularity in the description, with keywords including, nutrient intake, nutrition policy, micronutrient deficiencies, etc. We need a movement like this in gender research, he explained.

Better keywords should be a minimum, but it is also possible to consider the identification of a set of smart ‘gender metadata fields’. These would be input elements that need to be filled in that could ensure all CGIAR datasets properly assess gender dimensions, which would boost the visibility of gender research.

Working as part of the CGIAR Socio-Economic Data Community of Practice, the gender researchers support the exchange of gender-focused data collection tools, with standardized focus groups and interview questions, to improve the potential for comparing different datasets.

Since 2018, the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture and CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research have been collaborating out of mutual interest, to identify ways to unlock the big data potential of gender research.

Together they aim to take a much more active role in shaping up how gender data can be better analysed and reveal new insights, said Gideon Kruseman, the lead of the CGIAR Socio-Economic Data Community of Practice.

“We are promoting a standardized approach by bringing together gender data experts with other socio-economic and even biophysical scientists that may not know how to best engage with gender research and data,” Kruseman explains.

Access the full Findability of Gender Datasets report, which was funded through a 2018 grant to KIT Royal Tropical Institute, by the Community of Practice on Socio-Economic Data with co-funding by the CGIAR Gender Platform.

Cover photo: A woman helps to install a drip irrigation pipe on a farm in Gujarat, India. (Credit: Hamish John Appleby, IWMI)

New publications: Exploring the gendered rules shaping agricultural innovation

Written by Emma Orchardson on . Posted in Publications.

How do gender norms, agency and agricultural innovation interlink? How can we research this question comparatively to better understand patterns without overlooking the specificities of different contexts and the people who occupy them? These questions set the stage for the new special issue in the Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security (Agri-Gender) on the GENNOVATE research initiative.

Ahead of the International Day of Rural Women (October 15), researchers from across CGIAR drew on the voices of over 7,000 rural women and men across diverse regional contexts to demonstrate why understanding and addressing gender norms is critical for achieving sustainable and equitable development.

Gender norms comprise the social rules that differentiate what a society considers a man and a woman should be in their lives. The papers published in the GENNOVATE special issue provide new empirical and methodological contributions to the literature on gender, agricultural innovation and rural transformation. The testimonies gathered across 137 communities in 26 countries illuminate how agricultural innovation processes are regularly constrained by gender norms. These norms prescribe women’s deference to men’s authority and in turn assign women with heavy household and care work burdens. They also limit their access to resources, physical mobility and social interactions.

Challenging the norms

Women in Nepal participate in a focus group discussion as part of GENNOVATE's field research (Photo: Anuprita Shukla)
Women in Nepal participate in a focus group discussion as part of GENNOVATE’s field research (Photo: Anuprita Shukla)

Nevertheless, women and men find ways to challenge and redefine these norms, and village practices are often different from normative expectations. In a large majority of GENNOVATE research communities, women influence important household decisions and innovate in their rural livelihood activities, albeit often close to their homesteads and on a smaller scale than rural men. Some gender norms are beginning to relax to accommodate women’s and men’s changing lives, but these processes vary greatly across the types of norms, the groups of people concerned — young or unmarried women, widows, resource-constrained women, etc. — and the places where they live. By and large, women continue to face a myriad of barriers trying to expand their economic initiatives.

Two of the papers in the special issue explore gender norms in circumstances where farmer innovation and community development are particularly prevalent. CIMMYT researcher Lone Badstue and co-authors present findings from 336 semi-structured interviews with rural women and men from 19 countries who are known in their villages for agricultural innovation. While finance and physical assets emerge as important enablers of innovation, the testimonies stress that factors related to personality and agency are key drivers for both women’s and men’s capacity to innovate. Compared to men, women innovators are far more likely to detail how supportive spouses, parents, siblings, in-laws or children can help them learn about and adopt new farming techniques or otherwise actively innovate in their rural livelihoods.

Men in Kenya participate in a focus group discussion as part of GENNOVATE's field research (Photo: Renee Bullock/IITA)
Men in Kenya participate in a focus group discussion as part of GENNOVATE’s field research (Photo: Renee Bullock/IITA)

In another paper focused on 79 community case studies, Patti Petesch and co-authors focus on a small set of “transforming” villages, where participants in the GENNOVATE study widely reported accelerated processes of empowerment and poverty reduction in their communities. Case studies and comparative evidence are able to show that more equitable gender norms play a crucial role in catalyzing inclusive agricultural innovation and development processes.

Other papers in the issue emphasize concerns over innovation processes that reinforce gender inequality and marginalize specific social groups. For example, Marlùne Elias and co-authors focus on rural youth in seven countries to demonstrate how norms that discriminate against women in agriculture are key for understanding young women’s limited aspirations in agricultural work. Petesch and co-authors also introduce the concept of local normative climate to shed light on the contextual and fluid ways in which norms operate, such as why in one community only men perceive their village to be an enabling climate for their agency and agricultural innovation, while in another community only women perceive this.

Women in Ethiopia participate in a focus group discussion as part of GENNOVATE's field research (Photo: Mahelet Hailemariam)
Women in Ethiopia participate in a focus group discussion as part of GENNOVATE’s field research (Photo: Mahelet Hailemariam)

A large-scale endeavor

Two papers describe GENNOVATE’s methodology and conceptual framework. The authors reflect on the challenges and opportunities faced in carrying out the large-scale qualitative study. They highlight the need to be attentive to the complexities of various local social contexts and women’s and men’s own understanding of their lives, while looking for patterns to make broader claims that can contribute to agricultural research and development. They also discuss GENNOVATE’s research protocols for sampling, data collection and analysis, and reflect on challenges that correspond with their application.

The GENNOVATE papers make evident that gender norms set the stage for agricultural innovation and that some people and places find pathways to forge ahead far faster than others. The special issue makes an important contribution to the development of strategies that are meaningfully informed by social realities while also allowing for comparisons across various contexts. This insight is relevant to research and development beyond the field of agriculture and natural resource management.

The GENNOVATE special issue in the Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security (Agri-Gender) was published on September 2018, Volume 3, Issue 1.

The GENNOVATE research initiative is a collaboration of 11 CGIAR research programs.

Pakistan seminar highlights roles of women and youth in wheat-based agriculture

Written by on . Posted in Press releases.

CIMMYT and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council are set to hold a seminar on women and youth in wheat-based farming systems on March 8. Photo: CIMMYT archives
CIMMYT and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council are set to hold a seminar on women and youth in wheat-based farming systems on March 8. Photo: CIMMYT archives

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CIMMYT) – As part of activities around 2018 International Women’s Day, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) will hold a seminar on women and youth in wheat-based farming systems: How do women and youth contribute? What are their problems and concerns? How can their issues be addressed to increase farm productivity and benefit all household members?

The event will draw some 70 participants from public, private, and academic organizations, including high-level wheat sector officials, social scientists from all Pakistan provinces, and scientists from CIMMYT, the global leader in publicly-funded research on maize and wheat and related farming systems.

Among other topics, speakers will share and discuss Pakistan-specific findings from GENNOVATE, a large-scale qualitative study by CGIAR during 2014-16, based on focus groups and interviews involving more than 7,500 rural men and women in 26 developing countries.

The event, which takes place in the Inspire Meeting Hall, Agricultural Economics Research Institute (AERI), NARC Premises, Park Road, Islamabad, on Thursday, 8 March from 8:45 to 11:30 a.m., will feature presentations followed by question and answer sessions and discussions and will be chaired by Ghulam Muhammad Ali, Director General, NARC, and Dr. Imtiaz Muhammad, Country Representative, CIMMYT Pakistan.

The program includes Muhammad Khair and Zarmina Achakzi from Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITEMS), who will highlight the role of women in farming in Balochistan and factors that limit their income and social status. Sidra Majeed and Nusrat Habib of the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (AERI), NARC, will present on gender roles and responsibilities in Pakistan.

From CIMMYT, Mulunesh Tsegaye, a research associate, will describe GENNOVATE findings on women and youth’s roles in wheat-based agriculture in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan provinces. Consultant Sidra Minhas will share gender-related results from 14 agricultural program evaluations in Pakistan and how better to address gender dynamics in project design, programming, monitoring, and evaluation. Kristie Drucza, gender and social development research manager, will introduce results of three quantitative surveys that highlight the need for greater participation of women in agriculture research to raise the sector’s productivity and profitability.

The theme of 2018 International Women’s Day is #PressforProgress, and encourages global momentum in striving for gender parity.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), women make up 43 percent of the agricultural workforce in developing countries, but for many access to resources and services is severely restricted and they are often left out of decisions regarding use of income—even that which they earn.

You can obtain a two-page summary of the GENNOVATE report “Gender and Innovation Processes in Wheat-Based Systems” by clicking on the title.

GENNOVATE is supported by generous funding from the World Bank; the CGIAR Gender & Agricultural Research Network; the government of Mexico through MasAgro; Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); numerous CGIAR Research Programs; and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

For further information or interviews:

Kashif Syed, Communications Specialist, CIMMYT
k.syed@cgiar.org, cell: +92 (334) 5559205

Dr. Akhter Ali, Agricultural Economist, CIMMYT
akhter.ali@cgiar.org

Dr. Kristie Drucza, Gender and Social Development Research Manager, CIMMYT, Ethiopia
k.drucza@cgiar.org