Gender equity in agriculture

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimates women comprise 43% of the agricultural labour force and that productive outputs could increase by 20 – 30% if women received the same access to agricultural services and inputs.

So how do we integrate gender equity and women’s economic empowerment into agricultural programing?

This is the question we explored over a two day course at the CSIRO in Canberra. Linda Jones facilitated the workshop which was attended by around 20 participants from the CSIRO, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), ACIAR and World Vision. Each participant brought unique experiences and knowledge to address the constraints and benefits of empowering women in agriculture in developing countries.

Women-only focus group and farm practice discussion, Eastern Gangetic Plains, India. Credit: ACIAR

Building capacity in monitoring and evaluation

Thirty participants recently gathered at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) training facility to complete a five day intensive training program focused on monitoring, evaluation and impact. Participants came from 17 different countries ranging from Pakistan to Samoa, and everywhere in-between.

 

Participants came from 17 different countries. Source: ACIAR