[Wigsat-l] The Importance of Addressing Gender in Agricultural Development

[Sophia Huyer]

In developing countries, women do up to 80 percent of the work on  
farms. Yet in most areas in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, women  
are afforded less status than men, have less access to resources, and  
have greater responsibilities given their dual roles as mothers and  
farmers in rural households.

We believe that agricultural development programs must address gender  
in order to most effectively reduce hunger and poverty. To ensure this  
occurs, we’ve developed a Gender Impact Strategy for Agricultural  
Development.

Our vision of success:

           o Women will be actively and meaningfully engaged in each  
of our projects.
           o Through the work of our grantees there is a visible  
improvement in the general welfare of households—women, children, and  
families—demonstrated by measured improvements in health and income.

To help realize that vision, we have:

           o Created a gender checklist to ensure that we and our  
partners are considering the optimal role of women in our projects  
from the outset.
           o Adopted proposal templates to help grantees and program  
officers ensure that each grant has specific and sufficient measures  
in place to effectively address gender.
           o Helped to increase understanding of the importance of  
gender dynamics in the communities where we work, among our partners,  
and within our programs.
           o Committed to offering tools and resources to help support  
grantees’ and partners’ efforts. For example, we have hired a program  
officer with extensive gender experience, and we will look for ways to  
strengthen gender expertise and effectiveness within the field.

About the Report:
Title: Gender Impact Strategy for Agricultural Development
Prepared by: Agricultural Development Program of the Bill & Melinda  
Gates Foundation
Date Published: June 2008

www.gatesfoundation.org
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