Presented by Annet A. Mulema (ILRI) at the Initiation Meeting of the Basona Worena “Strategic Innovation Platform”, Ethiopia, 31 January 2014

1. Gender Perspectives in Agriculture
Annet A. Mulema (ILRI)
Initiation Meeting of the Basona Worena “Strategic
Innovation Platform”, Ethiopia, 31 January 2014

2. Introduction
 Gender refers to socially constructed roles and responsibilities of
women and men, and includes:
 expectations held about the characteristics, and likely behaviors of both men and
women,
 the roles that we learn to fill from childhood onward,
 These roles change over time and are cultural specific.
 Limited consideration of women’s role in agriculture
 Failure of past agricultural research and development practices
to address gender inequalities

3. Introduction
 Changing composition of rural society - feminization of Agriculture
 Gradual realization of the key role of women in agricultural
development and the constraints that they face in earning a decent and
sustainable livelihood.
 Increased gender equity can make a significant contribution towards
alleviating poverty and increasing food security.

4. Roles and responsibilities
 Variation in roles played by men and women in crop-livestock
systems
 Roles are defined according to gender norms and this influences:
 Participation of women in and control of different forms of
household decisions.
 Types and nature of enterprises (crops and livestock) women
engage with.
 Opportunities available to women to increase productivity and
income generation and descent livelihoods.
 Women less involved in cash cropping
 Women perform most of un-mechanized agricultural tasks and
perform multiple tasks, which add more burden to them.

5. Access to and control of resources and benefits
 Unequal access to assets and services among men and
women
 Women’s limited access to agricultural extension,
education and veterinary services
 Limited access to profitable markets
 Limited access to formal information networks and social
networks

6. Institutions and power dynamics
 Constraining policies, norms and values limiting:
 women’s involvement in decisions making
 involvement of women and marginalized groups in leadership
positions
 ownership and control of resources
 Lack of awareness about legal rights.
 Weak macro-micro linkages due to limited access to
public space.

7. Implications
 Women’s underdevelopment has adverse bearing on
growth and development of agriculture.
 Need to address gender issues and provide support for
social, technological and economic empowerment of
women
 Integration of gender perspective in agricultural research, extension
and policies
 Consider women and marginalized groups as important partners in
sustainable agricultural development.
 Impact men and women equitably

8. Gender goals in Africa RISING
 Promote agricultural systems which improve food, nutrition, and income
security, particularly for women and children, while conserving the natural
resource base.
 Increase women’s participation in production and marketing of high value crops
 To develop technologies and market strategies that will be relevant to the needs
of both men and women farmers, processors and traders.
 Building gender awareness and capacity of staff and local partners to obtain and
analyze gender-disaggregated data and diagnose gender related issues
 To enhance the knowledge and skills of men and women farmers to foster
uptake and dissemination of successful technologies
 Increase women’s leadership in the community and capacity to participate in
decision making on agricultural production

9. Anticipated Benefits
 Increased yield, livestock and livestock products improvement;
 Improved nutrition
 Reduced inequalities in income, access to and control of
resources
 Reduced gap between men and women through:
 Improved value chains
 Access to extension, education and veterinary services,
 Access to labor saving technologies
 Sustainable natural resource management
 Reduction in poverty and global food security

10. Bibliography
 FAO. 2011. The State of Food and Agriculture:
Women in Agriculture–Closing the gender gap for
development, Rome, Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations.
 World Bank. 2009. Gender in Agriculture Source
Book. D.C: The World Bank.

11. Project partners in Ethiopia