Agricultural research gets gender transformation approach

HYDERABAD: Empowering women smallholder farmers overcome the unique hurdles they face in the semi-arid tropics, and thus securing the future of food production and the economic growth in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, was among the key messages at the Asia Regional Planning Meeting of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). 

The meeting held at the ICRISAT headquarters in Hyderabad, acknowledged the significant contributions made by women smallholder farmers and the transformative role they play in dryland agriculture. "The efforts of ingenious and resourceful women smallholder farmers are helping us in our mission to achieve prosperous, food-secure and resilient dryland tropics. They have always been at the forefront in fighting poverty, hunger, malnutrition and environmental degradation. It is upon us to work with and provide them with scientific innovations and solutions to help increase the productivity of their crops and their incomes, while improving the resilience of their lands and livelihoods," ICRISAT Director General Dr William D Dar said. 

"ICRISAT now adopts a gender transformative approach in all its research for development activities in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Our interdisciplinary teams of scientists, with guidance from gender specialists, will methodically assess the women smallholder farmers' control over resources and explore more opportunities for value addition to their services. Our aim is to achieve real gender equality and thereby significantly help empower women," Dr Dar added.