Gender capacity assessment and
development in the Livestock
and Fish research program
Els Rijke (ILRI consultant)
Livestock and Fish partner meeting to review and advise on a
gender capacity assessment methodology
Addis Ababa, 5 November 2014

This workshop
• Present gender capacity assessment and
development framework & get feedback
• Core gender capacities:
– Pre-assessment “snapshot”
– Discussion
– Assessing one core capacity

Why?
• LAF’s Gender Strategy: Increased gender capacity
• systematic gender capacity assessment and
development

What?
• Framework and tools for analyses of current gender
capacities - desired future gender capacities
• opportunities and entry points for gender capacity
development
• design country and value chain capacity
development plans

Field visit
Pre-assessment and testing tools/questions
3 November
• LIVES
• TARI
4 November
• Sheep producers male/female
• Atsbi Bureau of Agriculture
• Mekelle Agricultural Research Center

Actors
Gender capacities
Level
3 dimensional framework

Levels of analysis
policies, rules and legislation,
regulations, power relations and
social norms
internal policies, arrangements,
procedures and frameworks
allowing an organization to operate
and deliver on its mandate
skills, experience, knowledge,
leadership and motivation of people

Core Gender Capacities
A. Gender analysis and strategic planning
B. Effective partnerships and advocacy on promoting gender
equality
C. Gender responsive programming, budgeting and implementation
D. Knowledge management and gender responsive M&E
E. Gender and leadership
F. Innovation in gender responsive approaches

Actors and functions
• Operational
• Research
• Development
– Extension service providers (government, private, non-profit)
– Producers and their organizations
– Development organizations (NGOs)
– Governmental legislative and policy-making bodies

Framework
• Does it relate to Ethiopia reality and needs?
• Where does it need adaptation?

Remaining agenda this workshop
• Each core capacity: key parameters
• Snapshot findings field visit
• Discussion
• Focus on “innovation”

Core capacity: Gender analysis and strategic
planning
some parameters
• analyze gender dynamics within the value chain
• apply gender analysis tools and frameworks
• analyze gender dynamics in the organization
• gender strategy

Core capacity: Gender analysis and strategic
planning
Field work snapshot:
- Understanding of gender roles and norms
- Gender analysis limited to differences in participation
- difficult interpretation and translation of analysis into strategic
planning
- Gender policy in place, implemented from top
- Expert only in LIVES, in Addis

Core capacity: Gender analysis and strategic
planning
Discussion:
- What are required / desired capacities?
- Which capacities are strongly developed in LAF program partners
in Ethiopia?
- Which capacities need attention?
- Whose capacities need to be developed?

Core capacity: Effective partnerships and
advocacy on promoting gender equality
some parameters
- advocacy for gender equality
- develop and disseminate gender advocacy materials
- collaborate with the government and other actors

Core capacity: Effective partnerships and
advocacy on promoting gender equality
Field work snapshot:
- All actors met were partners and exchange information
- Follow the same policies etc
- Influence of the environmental factors

Core capacity: Effective partnerships and
advocacy on promoting gender equality
Discussion:
- What are required / desired capacities?
- Which capacities are strongly developed in LAF program partners
in Ethiopia?
- Which capacities need attention?
- Whose capacities need to be developed?

Core capacity: Gender responsive
programming, budgeting and
implementation
some parameters
• human resources management
• internal policies, strategies, procedures, organizational structures and
programming
• financial resources for gender mainstreaming
• ensure that interventions benefit women and men equally

Core capacity: Gender responsive
programming, budgeting and
implementation
Field work snapshot:
- target 30% FHH
- Skills

Core capacity: Gender responsive
programming, budgeting and
implementation
Discussion:
- What are required / desired capacities?
- Which capacities are strongly developed in LAF program partners
in Ethiopia?
- Which capacities need attention?
- Whose capacities need to be developed?

Core capacity: Knowledge management and
gender responsive M&E
some parameters
• collect, interpret and report on sex- disaggregated data
• measuring changes from gender interventions
• Access to and production of knowledge documents and
publications on gender

Core capacity: Knowledge management and
gender responsive M&E
Field work snapshot:
- Data collected disaggregated mainly by household head and
sometimes by sex
- No M&E on gender impact

Core capacity: Knowledge management and
gender responsive M&E
Discussion:
- What are required / desired capacities?
- Which capacities are strongly developed in LAF program partners
in Ethiopia?
- Which capacities need attention?
- Whose capacities need to be developed?

Core capacity: Gender and leadership
some parameters
• women in leadership positions
• Commitment
• Accountability
• vision towards gender equality

Core capacity: Gender and leadership
Field work snapshot:
- Commitment and interest in gender
- Gender balance

Core capacity: Gender and leadership
Discussion:
- What are required / desired capacities?
- Which capacities are strongly developed in LAF program partners
in Ethiopia?
- Which capacities need attention?
- Whose capacities need to be developed?

Core capacity: Innovation
some parameters
• develop and test gender transformative approaches (GTAs)
• Apply, document and learn from innovative approaches and methods

Core capacity: Innovation
Field work snapshot:
Partners work with accommodating approaches:
– working with traditional women’s commodities (poultry)
– Working from women’s position and roles in society, defending
cultural norms of seclusion of women (training)
– focus on FHH defending “altruist” notion of male head (unitary
HH model)

Core capacity: Innovation
Discussion:
- What are required / desired capacities?
- Which capacities are strongly developed in LAF program partners
in Ethiopia?
- Which capacities need attention?
- Whose capacities need to be developed?

Tools
Tool per level / capacity / actor
Scoring existing capacities:
• Individual: questionnaire
• Organizational: FGD and individual scoring
• Environmental: Key informant interviews
Discussion desired capacities

Capacity scoring
1. Very Low: No evidence or only anecdotal evidence of the gender
capacity
2. Low: gender capacity exists but has not been developed
3. Medium: gender capacity exists and is under development or
partially developed
4. High: gender capacity exists, is widespread, but not
comprehensive, further development is planned or needed
5. Very High: gender capacity exists and is fully developed and
integrated into the organization

Core capacity: Innovation (organizational)
• To what extent does the organization develop and test Gender
Transformative Approaches (GTAs) and other innovative approaches and
methods to close the gender gap and empower women? Are internal
policies and frameworks in place?
• To what extent does the organization apply gender transformative
approaches (GTAs) and other innovative approaches and methods? Are
procedures in place?
• To what extent does the organization recognize gender transformative
outcomes? Are systems in place such as M&E, IA systems?
• To what extent does the organization document, learn from, and share
innovative approaches and methods, knowledge and resources? Have
experiences been documented and accessed by multiple audiences?
• To what extent does the organization scale up innovative approaches?
Have experiences been replicated by others?
• Research / development actors

Environmental level
• Which environmental factors (formal and informal, policies, rules
and legislation, regulations, gender relations and social norms,
institutional set up) play a role?
• How do they enable/disable capacities?
• Which capacities are affected?
• How will they affect (enable/disable) capacity development?

Individual
Family
Informal Formal
Community
Systemic
Access & control
over public and
private resources
Internalized
attitudes, values,
practices
Socio-cultural
norms, beliefs,
practices
Laws, policies,
resource allocations

Core capacity: Innovation
Individual:
• skills, experience, knowledge of people (management, staff, researchers,
extension workers)
• leadership and motivation of people
• Attitudes of people

CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish
livestockfish.cgiar.org
CGIAR is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food secure future. The CGIAR
Research Program on Livestock and Fish aims to increase the productivity of small-scale livestock and fish systems
in sustainable ways, making meat, milk and fish more available and affordable across the developing world.