1. Gender Research Strategy for Dryland Systems in South Asia
KH Anantha and Team
Resilient Dryland Systems
ICRISAT, Patancheru Andhra Pradesh, India
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2. Agriculture in South Asia
SA is home to about 20% of the world’s population.
Three-quarters of this population live in rural areas, with one-third living in extreme poverty.
More than 50% of employed women in South Asia work in the agriculture sector.
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3. Women in agriculture Country Rural population (% of total)
Female share of rural population (%)
Agri share of economically active women (% of total)
Afghanistan
75.2 NA 82
Bangladesh
71.9
51.4
57.4
Bhutan
63.1
47.2
97.2
India
69.9
48.7
61.8
Maldives
59.6
50.6
14.3
Nepal
81.8
51.6
97.8
Pakistan
63.0
50.2
56.9
Sri Lanka
84.9
50.5
41.6
Source: Saxena LP (2013)
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4. Women in food production
Particulars
Bangladesh
India
Nepal
Pakistan
Female share of agr. Holders (% of total) NA
10.9
8.1
Share of rural households, female -headed (%)
13.2
14.9
24.0
11.0
Source: Saxena LP (2013)
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5. Gender disparity in food production
Women do not have equal access to and control over land, livestock, technology, credit, extension services and other essential resources.
Women’s capacity/ability to cope with and recover from climate change-induced impacts on crop production and yields very limited
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6. Priority areas
Integrating gender participation in crop-livestock value chains.
Quantifying women’s role in agricultural development.
Identify entry points to reduce drudgery and increase efficiency of labour use; and
Improving nutrition and food security for women.
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7. Critical focus areas for strategic gender research
Empowerment through enhanced and targeted knowledge sharing using ICT4D.
Self employment generation for women through collective action in the crop-livestock systems.
Inclusive market oriented holistic development through PR4D.
Value addition and marketing.
Enhanced nutrition and food security.
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9. Gender Research at ICRISAT
Engagement, empowerment, and investment of and in women.
Contributions to improve rural livelihoods through inclusive market oriented development (IMOD), improved food security, better health and nutrition, reducing drudgery for women and sustainable management of agriculturally-related natural resources.
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10. ICRISAT’s Approach to Gender
ICRISAT takes the position that gender is an integral element of its overall agenda and attaches great importance to the gender implications of its research with human face through training activities.
Gender responsive goal of ICRISAT: Increase benefits for women and men in terms of income, nutrition, food security from improvements in the production and marketing of ICRISAT mandate crops so that gender inequality is reduced.
The Inclusive Market-Oriented Development (IMOD) conceptual framework: that underlies ICRISAT’s Strategic Plan to 2020 categorically mentions, “will enable the poor, particularly women, to participate and benefit rather than be sidelined” in the economic growth (ICRISAT, 2010).
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11. The Strategy 1. Integrating gender in:
programme development and implementation
capacity building
support to women’s empowerment
2. Documenting gender issues:
Developing gender disaggregated database on ICRISAT’s core programs & research issues
Documenting gender issues in ICRISAT’s research programs
Disseminating information related to gender issues for advocacy and policy dialogue
3. Influencing Policies by:
Documenting & disseminating information related to gender issues in ICRISAT’s research programs
Integrating gender issues in dialogues and other initiatives with policy-makers
Giving visibility to gender issues under ICRISAT’s research programs in the regional and international platforms
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12. Thank you!
ICRISAT is a member of the CGIAR Consortium