Publication: Understanding the Complexities Surrounding Gender Differences in Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria and Uganda

We investigate gender differences in agricultural productivity in Nigeria and Uganda. Results indicate persistent lower productivity on female-owned plots and among female-headed households, accounting for a range of socio-economic variables, agricultural inputs and crop choices using multivariate tobit models. Results are robust to inclusion of household-level unobservables and alternative specifications that account for decisions to plant crops. However, productivity differences depend on aggregation of gender indicator, crop-specific samples, agro-ecological zone and biophysical characteristics. More nuanced gender data collection and analysis are encouraged to identify interventions that will increase productivity and program effectiveness for male and female farmers.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220388.2010.536222

Multimedia: Women and Agriculture: A Conversation on Improving Global Food Security

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State

See the two videos and transcription of the conversation on

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/09/172739.htm

News: In Kenya, Survey of Female Farmers Uncovers Challenges

A World Bank survey in Kenya that seeks women’s input and data to inform agricultural policy shows that female farmers have limited access to water, energy and finance, and few women own property they can use as collateral for loans. As agriculture becomes ‘feminized’ and men abandon farms to work in cities, policies must change to meet women’s needs. Read more here: http://go.worldbank.org/ETKDJPYK70

New website on gender and agriculture launches

Access it here:- www.genderinag.org.

Call for participation: Gender Mapping of Africa

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) are issuing a second call for participation for a survey to gather information for a “gendered map” of agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa in order to better understand how to target water management and other agricultural interventions to women and men farmers.

This survey is an important tool for gathering the invaluable knowledge of gender and farming system experts and pooling this information in a centralized public resource. Documentation of gendered farming system knowledge online with the help of GIS tools can reach new audiences across the globe in a way that traditional publications have not; and we hope that this database will influence bilateral and multilateral program funding and CGIAR research.

If you consider yourself knowledgeable about a farming system in a country, state or district in Sub-Saharan Africa, we encourage you to fill out this 20-minute survey. Even if you cannot answer all the questions in the survey, we encourage you to fill in as much of the survey as you possibly can.

The survey can be accessed IN ENGLISH at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MRKR6RN.

Pour une version FRANCAISE: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZTTJ27T.

For survey participants who are interested to learn more about these topics, we are pleased to send a copy of the book “Household Decisions, Gender and Development: A Synthesis of Recent Research.”  To request the publication after completing the survey or if you need a hard copy of this survey, please contact Zhenya Karelina at: Z.Karelina@cgiar.org

To those who have already filled out the survey during the first round, we thank you very much and would be interested in hearing feedback about your experience with this activity. Please also contact us if you would like to obtain the book.

Thank you for taking the time to participate in this important activity!

Please share this survey link with your colleagues.

Publication: Making CAADP Work for Women Farmers: A review of progress in six countries NEW

Source: ActionAid
Summary: Looks at CAADP plans in Nigeria, Malawi, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia. Found systematic policy neglect of women farmers. Plans pay little attention to their needs and rights. Money for implementation is woefully inadequate.
Date: April 2011
Download the full paper (PDF 178KB) from the ActionAid website

Event (DC): My Skills, My Money, My Brighter Future Economic Strengthening Interventions for Adolescent Girls in Rwanda and Zimbabwe

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
12:00 – 2:00 p.m. (lunch provided)
The National Press Club
14th St NW, 13th Floor
Washington, DC 20045

As space is limited, kindly RSVP to crsevent@global.crs.org by May 19, 2011.

Catholic Relief Services cordially invites you to the publication launch of “My Skills, My Money, My Brighter Future,” two assessment reports of economic strengthening activities for adolescent girls in Zimbabwe and Rwanda, funded by the Nike Foundation. These publications highlight four different economic strengthening activities along with key findings, successes and challenges in meeting the needs of vulnerable adolescent girls.

Highlighted interventions will include:

• Vocation and technical training
• Junior farm field and life schools
• Bio-intensive kitchen gardens and small-animal husbandry
• Savings and internal lending communities

Brief: If Numbers Could Scream: Estimates and determinants of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Access the brief

Funding: CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security

The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) is searching for scientists who are interested in conducting research on gender issues related to the climate change, agriculture, and food security nexus. CCAFS will award women scientists enrolled in a PhD program or interested in a post doctoral opportunity, and who are citizens of and affiliated with an institution in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Bangladesh, India, or Nepal to a research grant of $35,000. Proposals must:

1.      Demonstrate and contribute to understanding the linkages between climate change and gender more specifically, while developing policy-relevant findings on climate change, agriculture, and food security more generally.

2.      Build research capacity of women scientists in partner institutions and increase their representation in agricultural research.

Proposals must be submitted by May 1, 2011.  The full call for proposals may be downloaded at http://ccafs.cgiar.org/sites/default/files/docs/call_for_competitive_small_grants_proposals.pdf and the application form is available at http://ccafs.cgiar.org/sites/default/files/docs/application_form_for_the_competitive_small_grants_proposals_0.pdf.

Collecting good practices – gender and technologies for agriculture and rural livelihoods

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), are collecting innovative and promising approaches that:

(a) promote access to and uptake of technologies by both women and men small-scale farmers in developing countries (with a particular focus on women);

(b) recognize/promote the critical role of farmers, both women and men, as key innovators in  shaping/influencing research agendas to ensure that technologies are developed to respond to their needs (with a particular focus on women); and/or

(c) promote/facilitate the link between (a) and (b).

We would be grateful if you could share interventions, experiences and approaches that target small-scale farmers (in particular women farmers) and illustrate (a), (b) or (c), regardless of scale. Please provide your input in English, French or Spanish by answering the questions in the attached template. If you have more than one experience to share, kindly use a separated form for each. Please also provide any additional information, such as relevant reports, evaluations and other documents.

Kindly send your input by April 20^th, 2011 to: Kirsten Mathieson (kirsten.mathieson@fao.org) and Catherine Ragasa (C.Ragasa@cgiar.org).

We thank you in advance for your valuable contribution.

Apologies if you have already received this message.

Please feel free to forward this email to other people, organizations and networks.