Theme: Gender equality, youth and social inclusion
Gender and other social differences such as age, wealth and ethnicity, have an enormous influence upon the success of agricultural interventions. To ensure equitable impacts and benefits to rural people, CIMMYT emphasizes inclusive research and development interventions. Starting with the collection of data on gender and social differences, efforts are underway to address these gaps and ensure equitable adoption of technologies and practice. This includes working towards gender-equitable control of productive assets and resources; technologies that reduce womenâs labor; and improved capacity of women and youth to participate in decision-making.
CIMMYT’s partnership with the Government of India, which spans more than five decades, is one of the longest and most productive in the world.
In October, a group of about 18 scientists from Bihar Agricultural University (BAU), Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), and Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University (RPCAU) visited CIMMYT headquarters in Mexico to participate in the course on “Innovation in Agri-food Systems through the Hub Model”.
The eighth edition of CIMMYTâs seminar series on womenâs leadership â Catalysts of Change: Women Leaders in Science â features Usha Barwale Zehr, Director and Chief Technology Officer of Mahyco Private Limited, India. For the last 20 years, Usha has applied new technologies and tools, including biotechnology, to improve the quality and productivity of seeds and agriculture for smallholder farmers in Asia and Africa. Her recent work focuses on sustainability in agriculture and the integration of digital tools into the agricultural value chain to enhance smallholder farmersâ incomes.
During the virtual event, held on November 7, 2023, Usha emphasized the importance of innovative science and technology in agriculture to generate socio-economic impact.
Science and technology are critical catalysts
âThe most inspiring aspect of my work is discovering how to help smallholder farmers achieve more from their small and marginal land holdings â those who continue to feed and support us by providing food for large populations in India and around the world,â Usha said, adding that the application of science to this endeavor is critical.
Ushaâs thought process has been shaped by her role model â her father.
âHis vision and progressive approach in using the latest in science and technology to make a socio-economic impact on the vast majority of our farming population has left a lasting impression on me,â she shared.
Supporting each other to get ahead
âWhen I think of how we can support each other â and support women in different contexts to become catalysts of change â learning from and helping each other is very important,â Usha said. She pointed out that professionally, we often become so busy that reaching out for help can be a challenge. That is why it is essential to establish structured interactions.
âWe need to have formal engagements with colleagues to talk â not just about professional and academic challenges, but also about how we are navigating personal challenges in our professional journeys.â Creating support groups and formal structures to facilitate such engagement is very important, she concluded.
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 womenâs 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 farmersâ 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 farmersâ 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.
CIMMYT hosted the 6th instalment of its online seminar series â Catalysts of Change: Women Leaders in Science â featuring Diane Holdorf, executive vice president and a member of the Senior Management Team at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
Drawing on varied experiences from a diverse career in sustainability, Holdorf used her talk to emphasize the importance of saying âyesâ in the face of big changes, identifying what energizes you, being present at home and at work, and supporting others to succeed with their objectives.
Translating science
As the daughter of a geologist, Holdorf spent much of her childhood outside looking at rocks, an experience she credits with giving her an affinity for nature. âI found it was a way that really connected me and grounded me in my surroundings. What are we looking at? What are we looking for? Whatâs in the patterns and shapes of what we see?â
Holdorf talks about her childhood. (Photo: CIMMYT)
After deciding that she didnât want to go into science, Holdorf opted to study public communications at university and was promptly recruited by an advertising agency upon graduating. âIt was the first time that something big came up where I just said: âYes. Yes, Iâll try it. Why not?â And that theme of saying yes in the face of these big changes is one thatâs proven to be incredibly helpful.â
However, having moved halfway across the country for the job, Holdorf quickly found that she disliked the role. âIt was a really important lesson in learning what I didnât value and what I didnât want to do,â she said. âThat came really early in my career, the idea that I needed to be way clearer in my convictions. What matters to me? What do I want to be working in? And that led me to go into environmental consulting.â
âMaybe not an obvious path, but my dad had been an environmental consultant,â she explained. âSo, in some ways Iâd fallen back into something that was a bit familiar, but that I could make my own.â
In this new role, Holdorf found she could put her communications skills to use in a way she found energizing, translating scientific and technical solutions into words that clients could understand or that project managers could frame and create workplans around. âWithout realizing it, it grew into this role of being the translator between âwhat does the science and engineering tell usâ and âwhat are the business solutions that we need to use that information to solve for.ââ
âIâve learned that what really drives me and what gives me the most energy is working together with people to create the biggest impact and change we possibly can,â she explained. âWhat motivates me the most is trying to drive action on these extremely urgent challenges of climate, nature, equity, and in our food systems.â
Helping others succeed
âLeading with clear objectives and clear boundaries is really important,â said Holdorf. âAnd I donât mean that in a rigid way. I mean knowing what I can accept when engaging with others, and what I will not go past. What areas of acceptance are needed for my integrity in a role.â
She noted that one of the things that has been particularly useful throughout her career â especially during the first 15 years, when she was often the only woman in the room â are the male colleagues who stood up for her, coached her and provided feedback on her work.
Pauline Muindi and Diane Holdorf engage in a conversation on women in leadership. (Photo: CIMMYT)
“And I listened hard,â she explained. âI asked for that feedback and really worked to incorporate it because I could tell that what they were telling me was meant to help make my role easier. That was a hugely valuable lesson because it taught me that if it was that important for me, it meant that I could in fact play that same role for others.â
As a result, she now encourages not only learning how to seek out mentorship, but also reflecting at every stage of a career, identifying opportunities to mentor others, and creating a stream of development and gift-giving.
âHow do we ensure that our work helps others to succeed?â she asked. âBecause often when weâre working in these spaces, we can only achieve our objectives by leading with and influencing others. Itâs not very often that we have full control. But learning how our work can help others deliver on the goals that theyâve been tasked with actually creates totally different types of breakthroughs.â
Holdorfâs presentation was followed by a Q&A session led by Pauline Muindi, research support specialist at CIMMYT.
After years of struggles, a group of women farmers in a remote rural area of Tanzania are finally profiting and forging an enterprise based on local farmersâ high demand for certified seed of sorghum, a dryland crop first domesticated in Africa and used in food and drink, livestock feed and even building materials.
Based in Usoche village, Momba District, Songwe Region, Tanzania, the Jitegemee womens group formed in 2018 to improve their livelihoods through sorghum production. In 2022 the group produced and marketed over 3 tons of certified seed, benefiting from access to foundation and certified seed with support from project partnerships and linkages to global and local initiatives.
“Through us, many women are now educated and motivated to engage in seed production,â said Rodha Daudi Tuja, a representative of the Jitegemee group. âI think in the next season we are going to have many women seed entrepreneurs.â
Based on seed companiesâ inability to fully satisfy farmersâ high demand for quality seed of sorghum, the social and behavior change interventions component of the Dryland Crops program of CIMMYT, an international research organization with longstanding partnerships and impacts in eastern and southern Africa, worked with Tanzaniaâs Centre for Behaviour Change and Communication (CBCC) to encourage youth and women to engage in the seed business, including marketing. Banking on previous experience, the initiative helped the women raise awareness among farmers about the value of quality, improved seed, using fliers, posters, t-shirts and caps.
âThe CIMMYT behavior change interventions and CBCC reached us through youth champions who trained us on the features and benefits of improved sorghum seed,â explained Tuja.
Jitegemee women’s group members proudly showcase the sorghum seeds they offer for sale. (Photo: CBCC)
Especially important was training the women received to grow âquality declared seedâ (QDS) at an event for 18 women and youth in Mbozi district conducted by The Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI). QDS offers reliable quality in seed at an affordable price to farmers but is not formally inspected by official seed certification systems.
Immediately after the training, the group purchased 12 kilograms of foundation seedâgenetically uniform seed that, when grown under controlled results, produces seed of ensured genetic purity and varietal identityâof the popular Macia sorghum variety from the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) at Hombolo. They multiplied that seed following meticulous quality protocols on a leased, 1.6-hectare farm.
A previous arrangement to grow seed for a local company had fallen through after one cropping season, and the Jitegemee group ended up recycling the seed and growing it for grain for sale. Still, the group realized that selling seed could be a lucrative business, if they could only gain access to foundation seed or certified seed. As part of growing pains during that period, the group lost half its members.
âBefore our contact with the CIMMYT project we had a lot of challenges,â Tuja said. âFirst, we did not know about improved seed, we couldnât access information about new farming technologies, and we were doing subsistence agriculture. However, after the project we were able to access seed and information at the Youth Quality Centres and through radio programs.â
âI advise youth and my fellow women to join us because, before, we had no hope in sorghum production but now we are prospering. The demand for sorghum seed is very high, a lot of farmers are now demanding improved seeds, and our group alone cannot meet the growing demand for seed.â
We gratefully acknowledge Florian Ndyamukama, Centre for Behaviour Change and Communication (CBCC), Tanzania, for contributing this story.Â
Staff of the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project conducted a three-day âtraining of trainersâ workshop on integrated soil fertility management and related practices for commercial rice farming, for 50 agricultural technicians from 50 farm cooperatives in districts of mountainous midwestern Nepal and its lowland Terai Region.
Held in Nepalgunj, midwestern Nepal, the workshop focused on the â4Rsâ for soil fertilizationâright source, right rate, right time, and right placeâalong with other best farming and soil nutrient stewardship practices for rice-based farming systems.
âSubject matter was comprehensive, covering variety selection, transplanting, weeding, management of nursery beds, fertilizer, irrigation, controlling pests and diseases and proper handling of rice grain after harvest,â said Dyutiman Choudhary, NSAF project coordinator and scientist at CIMMYT. âTopics relating to the integrated management of soil fertility included judicious application of organic and inorganic fertilizer, composting and the cultivation of green manure crops such as mungbean and dhaincha, a leguminous shrub, were also included.â
Support to sustainably boost Nepalâs crop yields
With funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the NSAF project promotes the use of improved seeds and integrated soil fertility management technologies, along with effective extension, including the use of digital and information and communication technologies.
Agriculture provides livelihoods for two-thirds of Nepalâs predominantly rural population, largely at a subsistence-level. Rice is the nationâs staple food, but yields are relatively low, requiring annual imports worth some $300 million, to satisfy domestic demand.
Workshop participants attended sessions on digital agri-advisories using the Geokrishi and PlantSat platforms and received orientation regarding gender and social inclusion concerns and approachesâcrucial in a nation where 70% of smallholder farmers are women and exclusion of specific social groups remains prevalent.
âTopics in that area included beneficiary selection, identifying training and farmer field day participants, and support for access to and selection of improved seed and small-scale farm equipment,â explained Choudhary. âThe participants will now go back to their cooperatives and train farmers, local governments and agrovets on improved rice production.â
Nepal scientists and national research programs have partnered with CIMMYT for more than three decades to breed and spread improved varieties of maize and wheat and test and promote more productive, resource-conserving cropping systems, including rotations involving rice.
CIMMYT targets some of the worldâs most pressing problems: ending poverty, ensuring food for the future, mitigating climate change and improving the lives of farmers and consumers (especially women). CIMMYT is a CGIAR Research Center and has long been the worldâs leading center for research on maize and wheat. This research capacity is being harnessed to achieve the crucial goals of climate resilience, and food and nutrition security.
Most of the worldâs people depend on annual grain crops for their survival. Yet some of the worldâs poorest men and women produce cereals. Annual grain farming has exacerbated climate change. The worldâs great challenges of achieving climate resilience and nutrition security are being addressed by focusing CIMMYTâs research and development (R&D) on maize, and wheat, as well as on underutilized grain and legume crops.
Highlights from the 2022 Annual Report:
Annual cereal farming tends to release carbon into the atmosphere, while degrading the soil. Improving the soil takes years, and the high annual variation in weather demands long-term experiments. Field trials by CIMMYT over many years show that farmers can return carbon to the soil by using minimum tillage, rotating cereals with legumes, and by applying animal manure and strategic amounts of nitrogen fertilizer. As soil fertility improves, so do farmersâ yields.
Eleven million farmers in India alone produce maize, usually without irrigation, exposing families to climate-related disaster. Twenty new hybrids bred by CIMMYT out-perform commercial maize, even in drought years. One thousand tons of this heat-tolerant maize seed have now been distributed to farmers across South Asia.
Farmer Yangrong Pakhrin shells maize on his verandah in Gharcau, Kanchanpur, Nepal. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)
Some wheat is rich in zinc and iron, which prevent anemia, especially in children. Yet naturally-occurring phytic acid in wheat blocks the bodyâs absorption of these minerals. A technique developed by CIMMYT lowers the cost of assaying phytic acid, so plant breeders in developing countries can identify promising lines of wheat faster. CIMMYT is also helping to reduce food imports by learning how other crops, like cassava and sorghum, can be blended with wheat to make flours that consumers will accept.
Some wheat hotspots are warm, dry, and subject to plant diseases. CIMMYT collaborates with plant breeders worldwide through the International Wheat Improvement Network (IWIN) to test promising new wheat lines in these tough environments. As more places become warmer and drier with climate change, CIMMYT and allies are developing wheat varieties that will thrive there.
Harvesting more maize in the future will depend on higher yields, not on planting more land. In plant breeding programs in Africa, South Asia and Latin America, CIMMYT and partners are already developing maize varieties and hybrids that will be released in just a few years. A review of these efforts reveals that annual yield increases will be about twice the rate achieved from 1973 to 2012.
Sorghum, millets, pigeon pea, chickpea and groundnuts have been favorite food crops in Africa for centuries. They are already adapted to warm, dry climates. CIMMYT is now working with national research programs to ensure that new crop varieties have the traits that male and female farmers need. Seed systems are being organized to produce more of Africaâs preferred crops.
A group member harvests groundnut in Tanzania. (Photo: Susan Otieno/CIMMYT)
Researchers can only breed new crop varieties if someone saves the old ones from extinction. CIMMYT does that with its world-class collection of wheat and maize seed. In 2022, CIMMYTâs two separate wheat and maize germplasm banks were combined into one. Modern techniques, such as vacuum-sealed seed packets and QR codes, allow rapid response to requests for seed from plant breeders around the world.
CIMMYT is helping Nepali farmers to plant maize in the lowlands, in the spring, when most land lies fallow. In 2022, CIMMYT provided training and investment to 2,260 farmers (35% women), who earned, on average, an additional $367 in one year. The added income allowed these farmers to invest in health care and schooling for their children.
Mexican farmers are saving money, harvesting more and selling their grain more easily. Some 4,000 farmers are now selling on contract to food manufacturing companies. The farmers lower production costs by using CIMMYT innovations in irrigation, fertilizer application and ecological pest control. Yields increase, the soil improves, and farmers find a ready market for their harvest.
The stories we have highlighted in this article are just some of the ones included in the Annual Report. See the full text of all the stories in âHarvesting Successâ to learn how CIMMYT scientists are doing some of the most important research, for some of the worldâs best causes.
In the vast landscapes of sub-Saharan Africa, where agriculture is the backbone of many communities, the quest for improved maize varieties is a vital step for ensuring food security in the face of climate change. Women, who represent approximately half the clients of maize breeding programs, have been essential in the realm of agricultural research. While significant gender-based differences in trait preferences exist in many African-staple crops, these appear less drastic in maize. However, there are gendered differences in management practices and productivity in maize-based systems.
After decades of work on maize improvement projects, CIMMYT has made a bigger commitment to researching, supporting and delivering drought and heat tolerant maize to smallholders in Zimbabwe. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Recognizing the need to bridge this gap, the CIMMYT-NARES (National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems) regional maize breeding networks in eastern and southern Africa have embarked on a transformative journey to empower farmers, especially women, through their innovative approach to maize breeding. The breeding networks are focused on ensuring smallholder farmers have access to a steady stream of climate-resilient and nutritionally enriched maize varieties that thrive in todayâs stress-prone environments. To ensure these new maize varieties meet the needs of diverse users, including women, the breeding networks continue to adapt approaches to increase gender-responsiveness.
Linking science with the realities on the ground
Testing the performance of potential new maize hybrids coming from the breeding pipelines within farmersâ realities is critical to the ultimate success of these new varieties. In collaboration with over 400 farmers in southern Africa, the CIMMYT-NARES maize breeding network conducts extensive on-farm trials to evaluate the performance of these new maize varieties. A similar approach is adopted in eastern Africa. What sets these trials apart is the fact that over 40% of these trials are led by female plot managers. Farmers evaluate these varieties within the context of their own realities, including their own management practices, and provide valuable feedback to the breeding teams on the potential of new varieties.
By involving women in decision-making processes, CIMMYT-NARES networks ensure that their preferences and needs are considered when selecting the most promising hybrids for product advancement, announcement to partners, varietal releases and ultimately commercialization. This inclusive approach not only empowers women but also harnesses the collective knowledge and experience of the farming community. CIMMYTâs research recently showed that there is a relatively high degree of joint management within maize plots, and since 2022, the on-farm trials included a target of approximately 30% jointly managed plots.
Gender is only one axis of social difference that impacts agricultural production, variety selection, and end uses. Social differences including marital status, age, education level, ethnicity, wealth, access to capital, market access and livelihood orientation do play a role in the adoption of new varieties and farm productivity. By embracing the diversity within farming communities, CIMMYT-NARES networks are actively working towards understanding different farm types, while ensuring that the improved maize varieties are tailored to meet the diverse demands of the regions.
As the CIMMYT-NARES maize breeding networks continue to make innovative strides in breeding climate-resilient and nutritionally enriched maize varieties, they are not only transforming agriculture but also empowering individuals and communities. Through collaborative efforts, with the woman farmer at the heart of the approach, they are paving the way for a future where farming communities can thrive and contribute to food and nutritional security.
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. âTransformative research can lead to meaningful impact,â said Angela Meentzen, senior gender researcher at CIMMYT. âWe have been looking forward to this conference because coming together as researchers, scientists and development practitioners, we can discuss and share insights from each otherâs practices and experiences from the field.â
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:
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 womenâs 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 womenâs nexus of time poverty and decision-making has âclear implications for the development and diffusion of laborsaving technologies in agriculture.â
Working on the same study with Khed, Vijesh Krishna explored the relationship between womenâs involvement in agricultural activities and decision-making. His presentation, âFarm managers or unpaid laborers?â, from the study covering 347 wheat-farming households across two years, concludes that âdespite playing a crucial role in wheat farming in central India, most women lacked the ability to influence decisions.â
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 farmersâ 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 cultivationâproduction systems, seed demand and seed accessâwith 800 smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe and Kenya.
Euler emphasized the influence of socioeconomic and agroecological factors, including bioticâabiotic stress, in the household decisions on maize varietal adoption.
He concluded that the study results will help âguide the product development of regional maize breeding programs and strengthen communitiesâ adaptation to the changing environmental conditions for maize cultivation.â
Adoption of a weeding technology may lead to labor displacement of marginalized women laborers
Presenting a poster for the same session as Euler, Maxwell Mkondiwaâin a study coauthored with colleagues Khed and Krishnaâhighlighted how rapid diffusion of a laborsaving technology like herbicides could exclude the marginalized further. The study occurred in Indiaâs state of Bihar, looking at nonfarming rural poor, primarily women, from socially marginalized groups.
From data on chemical weeding, the study analyzed the technologyâs impact on inequalityâ 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. âWe 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,â 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 Asiaâwith 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 âdespite technology adoption, women had limited mechanistic understanding compared to men, with similar limitations on womenâs time use and capacity development,” said Karki.
For future CASI promotion, Karki concluded: âReducing 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.â
Similarly, Moti Jaletaâs research presentation highlighted the challenges of mechanization adoption for smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, primarily women. âIntentional research, whether in gender or social development, helps identify problems and opportunities for change,â endorsed Jaleta.
Meaningful research helps achieve gender and social inclusion goals
The âFrom Research to Impact: CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform and ICAR Conference 2023â, between October 9-12, 2023, in New Delhi, gathered researchers from 68 countries. In her inaugural address at the conferenceâs opening, the President of India Smt. Draupadi Murmu affirmed, âFor ecologically sustainable, ethically desirable, economically affordable and socially justifiable production, we need research which can enable conditions to reach these goals.â
At the end of the four-day conferenceâwith 60 research presentations and six plenary sessionsâthe organizers and participants reflected on their resolve âFrom Research To Impact,â and the promise to recognize and collectively address the gender and social inequities in agrifood systems development.
Bhumi Shara Khadka is a 35-year-old community business facilitator who has made significant strides in agriculture and community development. Her journey began after completing training in sales skill development and technical capacity building for community business facilitators (CBF) organized by the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) in June 2022 and April 2023, respectively. This training opened up new opportunities, and she soon secured a job as a CBF. However, her ambitions didn’t stop there.
In February 2022, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) recognized her potential and recommended her for a role as a community business facilitator with Laxmi Agrovet, a local agribusiness. To prepare for her new position, Ms. Khadka underwent additional training in various areas, including running sales meetings, farm mechanization, post-harvest handling and the fundamentals of sales and marketing. With these tools in hand, she set out to make a difference in the lives of farmers and the broader community.
To date, Khadka has conducted 97 sales meetings with farmer groups where she explains improved production methods, plant protection, post-harvest handling and how to market agriculture products effectively. She also demonstrates and sells Laxmi Agrovet agri-inputs such as seeds, fertilizer and tools. She gets a 20% commission on sales, bringing her an average net monthly income of NPR3,375 (US$26). Her role as community business facilitator also involves linking farmers with the local government agriculture program. As a result of her efforts, three farmers have each acquired a mini power tiller at a 50% subsidy.
Bhumi Shara Khadka at her vegetable farm in Surkhet district, Nepal. (Photo: Nabin Maharjan/CIMMYT)
Inspired by Khadkaâs example, Chitra Bahadur Rokaya, acting director of the Agricultural Regional Directorate in Surkhet, Nepal, has expressed his desire to visit farmers and learn more about the activities of community business facilitators like Khadka during the technical capacity-building training to CBF in April 2023. Rokaya has expressed gratitude to trainees who attended the IPM training organized by CSISA and would visit the field sites of the trainees, if possible.
Khadka has also used her knowledge as a business facilitator and IPM trainee to establish her commercial vegetable farm, which, with her investment and CSISAâs technical support, now occupies five ropani (0.01 hectares). Her husband helps out and Bhumi sells the produce at local markets in Melkuna and Badichour, Surkhet, with traders often coming to the farm to buy from her directly. Last year, she earned NPR227,000 (US$1,733) of which her net income was NPR63,500 (US$485). Since starting the farm, the familyâs food habits and those of her neighbors have changed for the better. Last year, the family kept a quarter of the vegetables she produced for their consumption, and she gave about 10% to neighbors.
Last year, under Khadkaâs facilitation, 48 farmers cultivated vegetables on an average of 0.02 hectares each, each achieving an average net profit of NPR63,500 (US$485). Khadka also owns a power tiller, which she rents out for others to use, earning NPR35,000 (US$267) last year from this service provision activity.
In addition to her business and professional success, Khadka completed high school in 2014, underlining the significance of her accomplishments. Khadka’s remarkable journey is an inspiring agriculture success story, showcasing the transformative power of women empowerment in rural communities. Her dedication, knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit have improved farmers’ lives and elevated the entire community’s access to nutritious food. Her unwavering commitment to her work has brought her well-deserved recognition, and she is a beacon of hope for others in similar fields of endeavor.
In Nepal, the International Water Management Institute and CIMMYT conducted research on Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming System (SI-MFS) in collaboration with local governments in Gurbakot Municipality of Surkhet and Haleshi Tuwachung Municipality of Khotang.
The research found a noticeable shift in farmers’ interest in farming practices, where successful implementation of innovation and scaling, it’s crucial to have farmers’ interest and ownership in interventions.
Nepal’s traditional farming system faces labor shortages, and climate-induced risks to crop production, infrastructure, investment, and agro-advisory tools. This calls for urgently redesigning agriculture practices and addressing the challenges and a noticeable shift in farmersâ interests in farming practices.
The International Water Management Institute and CIMMYT, in collaboration with local governments in Gurbakot Municipality of Surkhet and Haleshi Tuwachung Municipality of Khotang, conducted research on Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming System (SI-MFS), the research found a noticeable shift in farmersâ interests in farming practices.
For the sixth installment of the ongoing seminar series on womenâs leadershipâCatalysts of Change: Women Leaders in ScienceâCIMMYT had the opportunity to interact with Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director of CGIAR. This session was held when Ismahane was Chief Scientist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
At the outset, Bram Govaerts, Director General of CIMMYT, introduced Ismahane as a strong advocate for diversifying into neglected and underutilized crops and rethinking the food system as a whole. âShe is an early advocate for resilience and inclusion from a human and biological perspective, is internationally known for promoting the use of non-fresh water in agriculture, and empowering women in science,â he said.
From fighter pilot to agricultural scientist
Ismahane outlined her career trajectoryâher initial fascination with the sciences, particularly in biology and genetics, during school; how her military training in Morocco to become the nationâs first female fighter pilot had to be aborted, prompting her to pursue a new career; her subsequent enrollment in an agricultural college, as other specialized institutions did not have available seats; and how, despite the hiccups, she went on to obtain a Masterâs degree in Genetics and Plant Breeding, followed by a Ph.D. in Genetics.
âI do not succumb easily to discouragement, certainly not to prejudice or naysayers,â she stated. âCuriosity and perseverance have consistently guided me over the past 25 years of my career.â
Diverse background leads to diverse thinking
Ismahane describes herself as a mother of two wonderful children, a Moroccan who immigrated to Canada, an Arab Muslim woman, and a passionate advocate for genetics.
Coming from a family of six daughters, she noted that discrimination or favoritism played no role in her upbringing. âMy parents encouraged our curiosity and instilled in us a love for learning and sharing knowledge,â she said. Ismahane selected her fellowship opportunities with ICARDA and CIMMYT due to their international exposure, which enabled her to move from laboratory to laboratory and university to university, allowing her to explore new technologies and engage in global projects.
In each setting, she learned more than just science. âI learned how to deal with people, appreciate diverse cultures, languages, and food.â She stressed the importance of learning new languages and how learning Spanish opened doors for her in Latin America. âNot understanding each other makes us defensive, leading to problems in the world,â she told her audience.
More scientists needed in management
At a point in her life when she wanted to settle down and have a family, Ismahane migrated to Canadaâwhat she calls âa new chapter.â In Canada, she got a chance to work with the federal government in Ottawa and gained experience in science management. âIt made me look at science differentlyâhow budgets are allocated, how performance is measured, how to work with different stakeholders. This was a big learning curve for me,â she said, adding that if we want science to be heard and used in policy and budget decisions, we need more scientists in management. âYou canât let lawyers and finance people run the shop.â
After moving across different management roles, she realized that her calling was international development. âIt took me going to Canada, being part of Canada’s systems and bureaucracy, and learning science management to realize that my heart lies in international development using science, tech, and innovation.â
She also shared insights about her strategic work at FAO, which aimed to achieve the âfour bettersââbetter production, better nutrition, better environments, and better life, leaving no one behind. âFor me, leaving no one behind and having a better life for everybody based on agriculture is very important,â she shared.
In a follow-up interview with Andrea Gardeazabal, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Manager – ICT for Agriculture at CIMMYT, Ismahane shared some challenges of being a woman leader or scientist in a male-dominated field.
âThey are the same challenges as those of being a good scientist: finding the right subject, securing the right resources, and having the right partners. But for women, particularly young women, you also have to prove yourself in a new place,â she said.
Her advice to younger women in science was: âYou have to like what you’re doing or move on. By moving, you grow. There are so many opportunities, and so much to do. Hence, be in a place that you like. Believing in what you do and enjoying it makes the difference.â
Changes needed to make research organizations more inclusive
Ismahane shared that organizational policies aimed at supporting women must address the fundamental biological needs of women, allowing them to fulfill their roles as mothers and maintain their families. For that, a robust support system within the workplace is essential.
âIn all sectors, but more in science and agriculture, we need positive discrimination,â she said. She explained that this does not imply selecting women who lack qualifications; rather, it means providing opportunities for qualified women to enter and excel in these fields. âIt will be necessary to maintain such measures for the next 50 to 70 years to promote a more balanced workforce, because right now the numbers are not encouraging at all, particularly when you go into senior management,â she said. âWe need to put in place policies that encourage women to continue in their careers,â she added.
Key insights about building resilient and sustainable agri-food systems
Ismahane pointed out how historically the agricultural sector has focused on a limited number of species because of economic restraints, which rendered the agriculture sector susceptible to climate change and a contributor to the problem. âTransformation of the agri-food system is a mustâit’s not optional. We must create a system that is more resilient, sustainable, inclusive, and efficient,â she emphasized.
Ismahane also pointed out how the logistics of moving agricultural commodities globally often do not make sense and can worsen greenhouse gas emissions. âCurrently, data related to commodity transport and emissions are largely controlled by multinational companies, who rarely share this information,â she said. Leveraging traceability to assess the carbon footprint of commodities can promote responsible trading and support local and regional production, she explained.
Women play a critical role in the future of food security. Female farmers face a significant disadvantage before they ever plow a field or sow a seed. Farming is a challenging profession, and it is even more challenging for women when they perform these functions whilst facing numerous constraints.
Nur-A-Mahajabin Khan, communications officer, showcases how fodder chopper technology is improving the lives of women farmers in rural Bangladesh.
On August 29, CIMMYT held the latest installment of its seminar series on womenâs leadershipâCatalysts of Change: Women Leaders in Science. The online event featured a presentation from Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, an animal scientist by training, who has previously worked as policy advisor for numerous African governments and global institutions and currently serves as chair of the CGIAR System Board.
In her opening talk, Sibanda outlined the many and varied roles she has held throughout her career, including professor, farmer, and business owner. Discussing her early education in a segregated colonial Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia), her time as an undergraduate student in Egypt, or the challenge of starting a family alongside developing her career, Sibanda was keen to highlight the lessons learned at each stage of life and emphasized the importance of creating cross-cultural friendships, nurturing professional networks, establishing priorities, and promoting continuous learning.
A learning spirit
Sibanda has over 15 years of experience working as a governor at national, regional, and international levels, but it took some time to initially build her confidence in the role. She recalled feeling daunted during her very first meetings because she had not been trained, but her learning spirit helped carry her through. âI always looked around the room and chose my mentorsâbased on something I liked about their valuesâsomething I liked about the way they asked questions, or something I liked about their demeanor and how they engaged with othersâand I started learning.”
This approach has garnered her a large circle of mentorsâand friendsâand having served on more than 12 different boards she now feels this is a space that she enjoys, particularly as there are still opportunities for learning. âI think itâs the spirit of continuous thirst for knowledge, for new information, that has kept me going.”
âAnd itâs all about integrity,â she added. âWhat people see in me is what they get. Iâve never had to be fake. What I know, I make sure I know very well. What I donât know, Iâm not shy to say I donât know.â
Convince each other that it can be done
Having unpacked her life as a scholar, mother, working professional, and governor, Sibanda explained that her current focus is on giving back. For her, supporting the next generation of women in the workplace is a key part of leadership. She cited Graça Machel and Mama Mary Robinson as inspirations, both for their work ethic and their ability to connect with people at different levels. âBut most importantly, they give it to other women,â she said. âThey love mentoring girls and other women.â
In her own experience, some of the major obstacles she faces as a woman, a farmer, and an African are the specific biases associated with each of those three things. âWomen need to be helped, they are disadvantaged; farmers are poor, especially if they come from Africa; and mothers need to spend more time at home and not be globetrotting to meetings.â To counter these biases, she explained, it is important to show that you can thrive and excel in all environments. âItâs not about either or, itâs about showing we can do it, regardless of the circumstances.â
âWomen are natural agents of change, and all they need is a conducive environment. As women, we should be spending more time with other women, making sure we share our stories, our successes, and our struggles. The whole idea is to convince each other that it can be done.â
Sibandaâs presentation was followed by a Q&A session led by Ana Luisa Garcia Rivera, senior regional genotyping coordinator at CIMMYT. Watch the recorded session below.
On August 29, CIMMYT held the latest installment of its seminar series on womenâs leadershipâ