This document proposes a new CGIAR strategy to develop gender-transformative seed systems. It recommends flipping the focus from gender-responsive seed systems to using seed systems to promote gender equality by transforming norms. The strategy includes studying the gendered impacts of current systems, and developing and testing seed system models that support new gender roles and women's access to and control over resources. The goal is to produce evidence on how seed systems can empower women and enhance gender equity through changes to formal policies and informal social norms.

1. L E A D A U T H O R S :
Alessandra Galiè
Nozomi Kawarazuka
Anne Rietveld
Berber Kramer
C O - A U T H O R S :
Kelvin Mashisia Shikuku
Jorge Andrade
Karen Marshall
Barnekow Lillesø Jens-Peter
Catherine Ragasa
Margaret McEwan
Jummai Yila
David Spielman
Isabelle Baltenweck
McDougal Cynthia
Inclusive
and gender-
transformative
seed systems

2. I N T R O D U C T I O N

3. Seed systems: an opportunity for gender equality
Seed is the first link in the food chain. Seed security is vital to smallholder women and men
farmers for food and nutrition security
Seed systems can enhance access to resources needed for survival; access to opportunities to
earn a living; and control over the acquired benefits
Women and men play different roles and have gender-specific opportunities and constraints in
seed systems (affected also by other social markers).
Gender-responsive seed systems have the potential to:
 More effectively contribute to achieving seed, food and nutrition security (through e.g.
enhanced adoption of improved seeds and increase the rate of genetic gains)
 Contribute to gender equity by empowering women
 Transform gender norms: leveraging norms conducive to equity; undermining obstructive
norms

4. The Key Words
Seed: all propagation materials for
crops, trees, forages, livestock, and
fish.
Seed security: women and men
producers have permanent and
unrestricted access to adequate
quantities of quality seeds, adapted to
their varying agro-ecological
conditions and socioeconomic needs.
Seed systems: means by which
women and men food producers and
consumers achieve seed security -
...whether of crops, trees, forages,
livestock, or fish.

5. Gender: ‘identities and expectations associated by
society to a certain sex. These are affected by power
relations that intersect with other social markers (e.g.
age, ethnic group etc) and influences access to and
control over resources and opportunities.’ In seed
systems we pay particular attention to poor women and
men who have challenges in access to quality seeds
along the seed value chain, and indigenous women and
men who are central to indigenous seed conservation.
Gender equity: ‘equivalence of life outcomes for women
and men achieved through strategies that address their
different needs, interests, access to resources and
power’
Empowerment: ‘ability to achieve one’s desired life goal’
The Key Words

6. Gender-accommodative
approaches (GAAs): recognize and
respond to the specific needs and
realities of men and women, based on
their existing roles and responsibilities
as shaped by existing social and
economic structures. They do not
challenge the status quo and do not
question the systemic barriers.
Gender-transformative approaches
(GTAs): in contrast to accommodative
approaches, GTAs aim to catalyse
social change by addressing norms
that constrict a particular group and
leveraging existing norms that are
conducive toward gender equality
(Galiè and Kantor, 2016).
The Key Words

7. P R O B L E M
I D E N T I F I C A T I O N

8. Seed systems and gender: what’s the matter?
• Research shows that household members have different needs, preferences, access to
and control over seed – they all affect seed adoption and who benefits from seed and also
engagement of women as traders in seed value chains (Brandth 2002; Paris et al 2008)
• Formal breeding may produce seed that is not good for poorest farmers and women in
particular:
• Crops/species selected for improvement not always grown by poor farmers and
women
• Varieties/breeds bred for traits that are not relevant to marginal farmers/livestock
keepers and women in particular
• Seed considered good by poorest farmers and women not available when it is needed
(FAO 2015: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5548e.pdf)
• If available, not accessible (too expensive; too far; wrong time; women cannot get to shop;
no information etc.) (Pushkur et al 2020)
• If available and accessible, women may still lack sufficient control over the seeds to benefit
equitably (its sourcing, cultivating/raising, utilization) or the benefits arising from using the
seeds (World Bank 2009; Galie 2017).

9. Gender analysis in seed system development
• Seed system analysis is often gender blind:
• Relatively little gender-disaggregated information
• Relatively limited analysis of gender dynamics in seed systems
• Existing gender considerations integrated in seed systems mostly ‘functional approach’,
e.g. ‘gender-responsive breeding and delivery can increase adoption’ or ‘how can gender
analysis help improve seed system sustainability’
• Existing literature on gender in seed systems focuses on diagnosing gender gaps and
dynamics
• Little testing (and therefore evidence) of gender empowering or transformative solutions for
seed systems development

10. C G I A R E X P E R I E N C E
A N D E X P E R T I S E

11. The evidence: gender analysis in seed systems
• Women and men may have different trait preferences that formal breeding programs need to
take into account (Adam et al 2019; Murphy et al 2020; Ramasawmi et al 2018; Tufan et al 2018)
• New commercial/hybrid seeds run a risk of increasing women’s labour burden (e.g. Bergman
Lodin et al., 2012, Teklewold et al., 2013, Tavenner et al 2019)
• Seed reaches remote farmers and women in particular, mostly through informal channels and
(Coomes et al., 2015; Mcguire, Sperling and Sperling, 2016) and along gender lines (Ricciardi
2015)
• Extension work plays the central roles in disseminating quality seeds to women farmers (e.g.
Lecoutere et al. 2019, Pan et al. 2020)
• Understanding women’s perceptions, practices and intra-household decision-making power are
critical to provide appropriate seed multiplication technologies and breeding programs (Kilwinger
et al., 2020, Nkengla-Asi et al., 2020; Mudege et al., 2018; Marshall et al 2019)
• The characteristics of seed sources affect farmers’ adoption choices (McGuire et al 2016)
All these publications have highlighted where gender considerations are relevant in seed systems (see next slide)….

12. Key components
of seed systems
Key characteristics
of each component
Gender considerations
in each component
1 Seed quality: standard that
determines the potential
performance of a seed lot
Healthy seed Crops and species used by whom?
Physiological, genetic & physical qualities Whose trait preferences & needs?
Responsive to shock Women invisible farmers
2
Availability: the physical existence
of enough quality seed at the right
place and time from the right
source.
Multiplication (based on demand & needs)
Whose needs and demands considered for
multiplication
Delivery channels Gendered reach of delivery channels
3
Access: ability and willingness to
acquire seed (through purchase,
exchange, loan or barter) and
related information.
Awareness Gendered access to information
Affordability Gendered access to resources
Mobility Women less mobile than men
Social networks Gendered social networks
4
Use and benefits: ability to decide
what crop/species/variety/breed to
source, grow/raise, and how to use
the associated benefits
Legal frameworks (global, national) Gender-discriminating laws & regulations
Informal, customary practices Gender-discriminating norms
Access to other resources Gendered control over resources

13. Evidence: Seed systems for empowerment
• Global regulations around patents and property rights may disenfranchise women
from claiming rights over seed unless they explicitly protect the rights of women
farmers to access and share the benefits of genetic material (Galiè, 2013).
• Accessing and controlling good seed varieties can enhance the empowerment of
women farmers (Paris et al 2008; Song et al 2018; Galie et al 2013)
• New commercial/hybrid seeds do not necessarily benefit women due to limited
women-oriented credit scheme, information and/or market channels, ending up
with supporting men (Mason and Smale, 2013, Abate et al. 2018, Mudege et al.,
2015; Mason and Ricker-Gilbert, 2013)
• Evidence on the impact of seed systems on women’s empowerment is very
limited (Pushkur et al 2020)

14. Evidence: Seed systems for gender transformation
• Brearley and Kramer (forthcoming)
• McDougal et al (forthcoming)
• Control over new seed varieties and livestock breeds has the potential to
transform gender norms (Galie and Kantor 2016; Galie et al 2017)
Evidence is very limited!

15. C G I A R S T R AT E G Y

16. A proposal for a
CGIAR Strategy
We flip the question to:
transformative seed systems
for gender equality
Provide evidence of gendered
impact of seed systems
Develop and test seed system
models that intentionally
transform inequitable gender
norms

17. Strategy 1: We flip the question
No longer gender-responsiveness as a means for effective seed systems BUT
equitable seed systems as a transformative means to progress towards
gender equality
The new research question is:
-What changes in seed systems can enhance progress towards gender
equality by transforming formal (e.g. policies) and informal (e.g. cultural
norms) systems of gender-based discrimination? And how?

18. Strategy 2: Study gendered impact of current
seed systems
Gendered impact of
a gender-responsive
seed systems on a
reach to empower
continuum
Key components
of gender-
responsive seed
systems
2. Availability: the
physical existence
of enough quality
seed at the right
place and time.
1. Seed quality:
seed that reflects
gendered
crop/species and
variety/breed
preferences
3. Access: ability of
women and men to
acquire seed
(through purchase,
exchange, loan or
barter) and related
information.
4. Use and benefits: ability
of women and men to
decide on
crop/species/variety/breed
and on derived benefits
Recognition (e.g. women as farmers; their trait needs and preferences)
Access to resources (e.g. seed of crops women
usually grow)
Access to opportunities (e.g. to purchase good seed)
Decision-making in domains they
usually control (e.g. chicken; cassava)
Empower:
enhance women's
decision-making
power on strategic
life choices
Domains of
empowerment a
gender-
responsive seed
system can
affect
Reach:
women as
participants
Benefit: increase
women’s
wellbeing
Outcomes of
projects

19. Strategy 3: gender-transformative seed systems
We develop and test seed system models that intentionally transform constraining gender
norms by:
• Supporting recognition and acceptance by men and women of women and men taking
unconventional gender roles (e.g. women recognised as seed agri-preneurs, AI providers,
chicken vendors, hatchery and nursery operators; men valued as care givers, ‘soft’ leaders
etc);
• providing women with access to resources they rarely own but are needed for seed security
(e.g. land, machinery) and catalysing policies and norms that enable more equitable control
over these resources.
• providing women with access to opportunities they are usually excluded from (e.g. pond
aquaculture; new seed business; financial mechanisms); and engaging women and men in
identifying and finding locally-desirably ways to shift constraining norms and stereotypes
embedded in these
• enhancing women’s control over and decision-making in domains that traditionally belong to
men (e.g. lead a seed firm)
• Engage with masculinity and new spaces and ways of being for men (as caregivers;
helpers etc), in particular to create more equitable gender division of labour and
intrahousehold decisionmaking
See next slide for a visual representation

20. Potential transformative impact of gender-responsive seed
systems on a reach to empower continuum
Key components
of gender-
responsive seed
systems
2. Availability: the
physical existence
of enough quality
seed at the right
place and time.
1. Seed quality:
seed that reflects
gendered
crop/species and
variety/breed
preferences
3. Access: ability of
women and men to
acquire seed
(through purchase,
exchange, loan or
barter) and related
information.
4. Use and benefits: ability
of women and men to
decide on
crop/species/variety/breed
and on derived benefits
Recognition of new roles and identities (e.g. women as farmers AND as seed agri-preneurs; their
needs and preferences as traders)
Access to seed and other resources (e.g. land) in
formal and informal policies
Access to new opportunities (e.g. employment in a
seed firm; seed entrepeneurship)
Decision-making & control in new
spheres (lead a seed firm) in local
norms/laws/policies
Empower:
enhance women's
decision-making
power on strategic
life choices
Domains of
empowerment a
gender-
responsive seed
system can
affect
Reach:
women as
participants
Benefit: increase
women’s
wellbeing
Outcomes of
projects

21. Next research steps: what do we need to
know and do
• Leverage similarities (and differences) of gender issues across
livestock/fish/crop seed systems to build stronger evidence
• Produce data on how gender dynamics and norms influence each
component of a seed systems
• Study what transformative seed systems can enhance gender equity by
changing gender norms at household and community level?
• Study what national and regional laws and regulations can facilitate
transformative change in seed systems for gender equity?
• Produce data on gendered impact of seed systems that enhance equity
• Develop and test gender transformative seed systems

22. S U M M A R Y
R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S

23. Recommendations
• Integrate gender analysis in seed system development with a focus on the
gender transformative potential of seed systems
• Assess how each component of the seed system impacts on the reach-
benefit-empower-transform continuum
• Study what are transformative seed systems that enhance gender equity by
addressing both formal (laws and policies) and informal norms (cultural
norms) at various levels and across regions and commodities (fish,
livestock, crops, trees, forage)
• Disseminate tested models of gender-transformative seed systems