1. Gender success stories
Alessandra Galiè and Juliet Kariuki
Mid-term Livestock Genetics Flagship Meeting
Nairobi, 5-6 September 2017

2. Gender and genetics strategy
3 main research areas:
Gender dynamics => genetics interventions
Genetics interventions => gender dynamics
Institutional arrangements => gender equitable outcomes
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3. Gender dynamics => livestock genetics interventions
Gender and genetics strategy: Q1
Gender dynamics => livestock genetics interventions
How  do gender dynamics affect the relevance of livestock genetics interventions?
What roles do women and men play in managing different species - particularly in breeding and accruing the benefits? And why?
What are the species and then traits preferred by women and men that increase the relevancy of improved breeds at household level?
What are the gendered opportunities and constraints affecting the accessibility of improved livestock genetics?
Role in deciding the preferred livestock traits to be maintained in the herd, in culling and in selling the animals?
Why? What are the dynamics and norms behind these patterns? E.g. are ownership of land or livestock, the division of labour, gendered access to diverse benefits determinants of decision-making patterns? How?

4. Livestock genetics interventions => gender dynamics
Gender and genetics strategy: Q2
Livestock genetics interventions => gender dynamics
How are gender dynamics affected by the introduction of livestock genetics interventions?
How do improved breeds/management affect intra-household workload, benefit sharing and gender dynamics?
b) What are the mechanisms/factors that influence such changes and how can they be dealt with to support gender-equity? (strategic question)
Mechanisms: how can changes in breed composition of household livestock effectively enhance women’s empowerment – e.g. without disrupting the status quo in ways that may result in backlashes from other household or community members?

5. Institutional arrangements => gender equitable outcomes
Gender and genetics strategy: Q3
Institutional arrangements => gender equitable outcomes
What institutional arrangements can ensure a gender-equitable outcome of genetics interventions?
What process/main steps need to be put in place to guarantee a gender-responsive breeding programme?
What policy arrangements can effectively facilitate women’s access to genetic material?
How to balance between an accommodative and a transformative breeding approach when prioritizing research? (strategic question)
Process/main steps E.g. in establishing genetic improvement priorities (based on their different needs, different species preferences and different priority traits), and in choosing a genetic improvement strategy (for example, considering different impacts of gender norms on participation in community-based genetic improvement programs).
Accommodative vs Transformative: E.g. Priorities: What species to focus on for a gender-equitable approach? The ones most commonly owned by women (usually smaller size and value, and kept in the house) or shall we promote women’s control over more valuable species? Trade-offs: How do we prioritize between focusing research on species that benefit women and enhance their empowerment, and species that enhance household food security? This may happen in cases when an improved breed of a species not controlled by women is introduced, with a consequent increase in the food availability in the household which entails an increase in women’s workload.

6. Gender and genetics strategy: Implementation
Staffing:
Gender scientist assigned to flagship
Gender post-doc and students assigned to projects and contribute to flagship
Interested genetics scientists identified for collaboration
Approach:
Strategic and integrated work in flagship undertaken
Work closely across flagships
Flagships supports % time gender staff
Funding opportunities identified: CRP funds and beyond
Co-supervision of students and post-docs across flagships
Co-authorship of papers and presentations
Page title minimum of 30 points and maximum of two lines
Main point 6 point smaller than slide title
Bullet points 4 point less than main point
Font type is Calibri
It is advised in one slide maximum 6 bullets
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7. Gender Sensitive Ruminant Breeding in Kenya: Problematise and expand
Rural women represent majority of livestock ‘keepers’
More likely than men to own small ruminants (Kosgey et al, 2004; Peacock, 2005)
Keepers = managers
In pastoral systems, women participate in every aspect of livestock management (Flintan, 2008)
What about men?
Significant knowledge gaps
Specific gendered contribution to, preferences for, and benefits from livestock breeding (Benard et al, 2016; Marshall et al, 2016)
Crucial for achieving equitable outcomes from livestock productivity interventions (Bravo-Baumann 2000; Quisumbing, 2015)
These knowledge gaps represent an opportunity to problematize our conceptualisation of gender and broaden our scope to new research areas

8. Gender research under the AVCD Livestock component
Overall objective seeks to improve the productivity of small ruminants in pastoral production systems through better herd management and innovative community-based breeding
Specific objectives:
To equitably establish community innovation groups (CIGs) to pilot improved livestock productivity practices in pastoral systems
To develop the capacity of national and development partners, and key stakeholders in livestock productivity improvement practices under arid environments
To develop and implement a gender sensitive selective breeding and improvement program for small ruminants under pastoral production systems

9. Research Questions
1) What is the gendered participation in, and are the preferences for SR livestock breeding?
2) What are the gendered opportunities and constraints faced by livestock keepers in SR management and at the market-level?
3) Which norms and customs condition gendered access to and control over SR, and why?
Start to explore question 1 from the gender and genetics strategy

10. Preliminary results Gender Roles Deciders
Gender
Roles
Deciders
(castration, culling through sale)
Influencers
Trait preferences
Mostly meat
Mostly milk; more likely to mention behavioural traits
Opportunities
Knowledge on value addition of improved breeding management
= stronger bargaining at the market
Knowledge and training on herd management to improve milk productivity
= more home consumption and sale?
Constraints
Poor market prices
Cannot sell livestock independently (exceptions)
Norms and customs
Socially constructed ‘rules’ define acceptable behaviour and practices
Women should ‘look after the homestead’; men should do the ‘hard’ work
First wives can exercise more agency
In nearly all the cases, communities were practicing uncontrolled mating, not practising record keeping etc
This information could be strengthened if we were working collaboratively with teams looking into other inputs – for example, forage and dryland systems. So wee see some opportunities in the future to have a systematic understanding of gender relations within breeding systems – this way we can understand better the gender relations may look like in order to maintain the productivity of improved breeds

11. Looking forward
How can we reconcile between trait preferences in contexts where rigid gender norms persist?
Whose preferences are prioritised?
Why?
What are the implications on gender relations and gender strategies?
At which points in the breeding cycle do we integrate gender?
Which are the best methods?
These questions help us understand question 3 c) from the gender strategy

12. References
Benard, M. et al., The Silent Cattle Breeders in Central Nicaragua. In M. Benard et al., eds. A different kettle of fish? Gender integration in livestock and fish research. LM Publishers, pp. 84–91.
Bravo-Baumann, H Gender and livestock: Capitalisation of experiences on livestock projects and gender. Working document. Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Bern.
Flintan, F Women’s empowerment in pastoral societies.
Peacock, C Goats - A pathway out of poverty. Small Ruminant Research, 60(1–2 SPEC. ISS.), pp.179–186.
Marshall, K. et al Traditional livestock breeding practices of men and women Somali pastoralists: trait preferences and selection of breeding animals. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics, 133(6), pp.534–547.
Kosgey, I. S. et al Economic values for traits in breeding objectives for sheep in the tropics: impact of tangible and intangible benefits. Livestock Production Science (88), pp. 143 – 160.
Quisumbing, A. R. et. al Gender, Assets and Market-oriented Agriculture: Learning from High-value Crop and Livestock Projects in Africa and Asia. Agriculture and Human Values 32 (4): 705–725.