Gender- and youth-sensitive data collection tools to support decision making for inclusive sustainable agricultural intensification
Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Group
Abstract
To achieve equitable sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI), it is essential to
understand differential access and control over agricultural resources by women
and youth, and to assess how intensification interacts with gendered and age dependent relationships. Existing packages for assessing women’s empowerment in
agriculture tend to be large-scale surveys that do not provide timely results, nor are
they easily integrated into a gender-transformative process. This paper applies
concepts from Kabeer on gender analysis and empowerment to evaluate promising
tools available for assessing inequities in SAI and supporting a gender-transformative approach. We interviewed decision makers in Malawi and Ghana to
understand their needs and practices for equityanalysis. We evaluated, adapted and
tested tools to detect inequities from SAI. Our results demonstrate the suitability of
tools to decision makers’ needs for ex-ante assessment and early detection of
disparities. We synthesize information from the testing and adaptation of tools
about the resources required, the equity issues they can reveal and their potential
role in a gender-transformative approach. The use of the tools needs to be part of
an inclusive and culturally specific process for identifying gaps and facilitating a
more equitable sharing of SAI responsibilities and benefits through iterative cycles
of action and learning.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Gender equity, participatory tools, intensification