Officers under the Smallholder Agriculture Cluster Project (SACP) underwent training on Gender and Social Inclusion in July. The training, attended by staff from the Project Management Unit, Provincial Project Implementation Units, Ministries of Agriculture and Women Affairs was meant to bridge the gap and strengthen capacity on gender, social inclusion and nutrition. This was after the realisation that some of the staff tasked with addressing social inclusion, gender and nutrition, were proficient in one area and had a gap in the other.
The workshop’s objectives were to;
- Increase understanding of Gender Transformative Approaches (GTA) and explore ways to integrate these into projects
- Increase portfolio performance of GEWE in ongoing projects i.e. SACP (3) and SIRP (5+) on GEWE ratings
- To ensure adequate documentation for SIRP at Completion for rating of 4+
To bridge this gap, capacity-building training was organised to focus on gender transformative approaches. Additionally, training sessions were scheduled to enhance expertise in nutrition.
Gender, Nutrition and Climate change
The training focused on the importance of gender, nutrition and climate resilience which highlighted the need to attain sustainable food systems. Sustainable food systems are attainable through adoptive technologies and best practices leading to increased agricultural production in a profitable, sustainable and resilient manner. This is achievable when there is rural household transformation; all household members are equally valued and have equal rights to all dimensions of wellbeing.
Climate change had resulted in low rainfall being received leading to a decrease in crop production, food deficits, nutrition gaps and poor food intakes. The climate change affected nutrition, gender and youths. There was emphasis on the need to consider gender disruptions in production and marketing, how gender influences production and the socio-cultural norms as well as certain ascribed roles. The women are responsible for seeing that food is put on the table thus the need for empowerment.
Targeting
The poverty and target group analysis, along with government and IFAD priorities, is key to select target groups and developing the targeting strategy. The project targets women, men and youth smallholder farmers who mainly fall in poverty categories B1 (poor but able) and B2 (transitory food insecure). At most 10% come from poverty category C (self-sufficient) thus around 20% from category A (poor and unable). Gender considerations on distance to the FFS, time for the meetings as these factors affect attendance and should be taken into consideration.
Value chains have the potential to include or exclude other people, for example, youths want value chains that will give quick returns on investment, while enhanced female participation can be promoted through having more female trainers. Development of educational and communication materials should also strive to include more youths by using their stories and testimonies.
Root causes of gender inequality and gender transformation
Some of the causes are formal structures, language, behavior, actions, visible powers, sex, gender physical abilities, invisible hidden power, feelings, perceptions, assumptions, cultural customs, beliefs, ideology, norms, values and thoughts.
Gender inequality can be rectified by gender transformation through:
Doing something – promote access to inputs and services to address some inequalities in pursuit of productivity, livelihood diversification, climate adaptation and efficiency
Do a lot: broaden and deepen inclusion, climate resilience, and empowerment taking account of structural barriers but without challenging them
Doing something differently – examine, question and change the underlying gender norms, beliefs, practices leading to unequal distribution of power; ensure women are equitably involved in high-value commodities and livelihood activities; ensure women have equitable access to CSA technologies
