NAIROBI, Apr 12 (IPS) – To advance the participation of women, the youth, and minority communities in the agricultural sector, measures must be taken to recognize and break down the barriers that hold them back. Experts in the agricultural sector agree that even as they constitute a significant percentage of the agricultural workforce, women face persistent challenges. The picture that emerges is a lack of due recognition of their presence and their challenges, such as limited access to resources and knowledge.
In a parallel session convened during CGIAR Science Week, ‘Enabling global gains towards gender equality, youth, and social inclusion in agri-food systems,’ speakers convened to discuss how to bridge the gaps in gender equality and the inequities in food systems. The CGIAR Gender Impact Platform prioritizes effective, strategic research efforts that will go toward enhancing gender equality, social inclusion, and opportunities for youth.
In accompanying the CGIAR Gender Impact Platform, the CGIAR Gender Equality and Inclusion Accelerator — or GENDER Accelerator for short — serves as a “center for excellence,” according to CGIAR Gender Director Nicoline de Haan. The Accelerator is a platform for researchers and experts to serve as think tanks or build capacity among its stakeholders. Analyzing social and gender norms that influence the environments in which women and youth are shaped can help CGIAR and its partners identify trends and seek missing data. These findings will be relevant in areas where data is limited, such as with youth in the agricultural sector. The accelerator also compiles existing research to address the unique conditions in the food, water, and land systems (FLWS) that make it difficult to implement solutions.
“This is not about fixing women farmers. It is about changing the system around them,” said CGIAR Executive Managing Director Ismahane Elouafi in her opening remarks. She added that CGIAR would ensure that the platform would work to ensure that “all farmers can access the system fairly.”
In her remarks, De Haan broke down the steps that decision-makers could take to support women-led innovation at the individual and systemic levels. Formal measures to build up women’s participation can be solidified through inclusive policies and laws and through providing them with information, technology, and education. Women in this field should feel empowered to make informed decisions, which can also be achieved by recognizing that societal norms do not need to limit their capabilities.
The event also discussed the need for more opportunities for youth in the sector. Like women, they are excluded from decision-making processes. At least 1.2 million youth live in low-to-middle-income countries with few opportunities for gainful employment in this sector. Nana Yaa Boakyewaa Amoah, Director of Gender, Youth, and Inclusiveness for AGRA, remarked that identifying how the current landscape can be shaped to allow the youth to thrive in this sector should be a priority.
“Who should feed the future? It’s the youth,” said de Haan. “Let’s set them up for success right now, because I think we’re setting them up for failure.”
Research findings and the solutions borne from them should be made easily accessible to agricultural workers, which seems to be more of an issue for women and youth. Alessandra Galiè, Gender team leader at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), provided the example of chickens raised as livestock that contract the virulent Newcastle disease, which would jeopardize the livelihood of any farmer who raises them. While vaccines are available, there is a low adoption rate among women and youths, which she observed was due to a lack of awareness of the vaccine’s existence. When farmers are disempowered, they are unable to adopt innovations, she said.
Simply equipping agricultural workers with new farming techniques should not be enough. The empowerment that CGIAR and its partners work towards should also come from including them in the decision-making processes. Jackline Makokha, Director, Gender, State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action, Kenya, remarked that inclusivity in decision-making looks like “vulnerable groups included in the table… make decisions that speak to their lived reality.” The unique perspective of minority groups should also be encouraged within academic spaces, allowing for more women scientists with a background in agricultural employment to lead research.
Even though there are gaps in gender and social science research in the agricultural sector, the research that does exist must be brought together, which the CGIAR Gender Accelerator has the potential to do. It is also publicly accessible, which would allow stakeholders across agri-food systems to make use of it to facilitate research or to help design solutions.
Through the CGIAR platforms, the recognition they bring to women farmers and their work is a critical step toward gender equality and social inclusion. The international community and its leaders should follow suit. They will have that opportunity to demonstrate that recognition and make progress in 2026, which the United Nations declared as the International Year of the Woman Farmer.
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