This document is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported Licence May 2013 http://livestockfish.cgiar.org
Gender transformative approaches and value chain research
for development
Why adopt GTAs?
By investigating and addressing the
causes of poverty and gender inequality,
GTAs are expected to create more
lasting development outcomes.
Outcomes are expected to be better
sustained because the analysis informs
actions focused on facilitating positive
changes in the wider social enabling
environment within which poor women
and men earn their living. This will open
up a wider range and quality of
livelihood options to them.
Testing under what conditions this
expectation holds is the core research
agenda around GTAs.
How can researchers
and development
partners integrate
GTAs?
1. GTA design: GTAs can be part
of almost any value chain
research and development
project.
The diagram on the bottom right
highlights what you need to think
about to design and implement a
gender transformative research
project. It details the core
characteristics of a GTA informed
project.
Work with the Livestock and Fish
gender experts to help you think
through your approach!
2. Form partnerships: Partnerships
are vital to successfully designing
and implementing gender
transformative value chain projects
because partners bring the needed
expertise in gender research or in
facilitating critical dialogue in
communities about gender
inequality.
These partners might not always be
the ‘usual suspects’ found in
livestock or aquaculture programs!
They may be found in gender and
diversity departments of
universities or NGOs, among media
groups or advocacy organizations.
3. Capacity is key: The Livestock
and Fish gender strategy prioritizes
gender capacity development as a
way to help more staff see,
understand and analyze how gender
and social inequality affect
development outcomes. This is vital
to achieving the CGIAR Research
Programs desired development
outcomes.
If you’re interested in gender capacity
development support, contact Kathy Colverson
(k.colverson@cgiar.org)
If you’re interested in learning more about
integrating GTAs in your value chain, contact
Paula Kantor (p.kantor@cgiar.org )
Gender transformative approaches (GTAs)
are a way to integrate gender and social
inequality into value chain research and
interventions.
They are different from gender blind and
gender accommodating integration
approaches because they address both
visible differences between social groups in
how they are involved in a value chain and
the underlying reasons why those
differences exist.
Example
A GTA to value chain analysis in the Indian
dairy value chain would assess how caste,
class and gender affect the way both
women and men are positioned in dairy
value chains. It would dig into what
underlying norms, beliefs and practices
create and maintain existing inequalities in
access to and control over resources,
markets, and new opportunities for
upgrading, and identify what actors to work
with, using what strategies, to foster
change that benefits poor and marginalized
men and women and the chain overall.
Research Process
Understands people
and social diversity in
their context
Dynamic & iterative
Enables critical
learning, reflection &
questioning
Multi-scale
Practice
Engages with both women
and men
Addresses unequal power
dynamics across social
groups
Crosses scales
Challenges oppressive norms,
practices and structures
Integrates with agricultural
systems interventions
Outcomes
Inclusive and sustained
socio-ecological
transformation
Gender equitable systems
and structures (social
enabling environment)
More and better life
choices for poor women
and men
Characteristics of a gender transformative approach to
agricultural research and development
Approaches to gender integration (www.igwg.org)
What are Gender
Transformative Approaches?