Gender transformative approaches (GTAs) employ context-specific strategies to change gender norms, facilitating women’s participation in value chains in Tanzania.
In India, landless women from scheduled castes and tribal communities suffer most from climate shocks with limited access to resources and innovations which would build their resilience. In West Bengal, the CGIAR Initiative on Gender Equality (HER+), the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are piloting social technical innovation bundles (STIBs) with these women farmers in learning labs. This approach strengthens women’s resilience and economic empowerment while addressing gender norms that prevent women from transforming their livestock farming to sustainable, remunerative businesses.
Impact of climate change on women farmers
As climate change intensifies, Indian women farmers, and especially those from scheduled castes and tribes, face a dual challenge of being disproportionately affected but also having limited capacity to adapt due to structural barriers to gender equality and women’s empowerment. These structural barriers include limited access to technology for agricultural production, finances, information and knowledge, constrained decision-making power, and landlessness. To avert widening these intersectional inequalities, women’s resilience to climate change and other shocks and stressors needs to be built. STIBs have been envisaged as a potential mechanism to address these multifaceted challenges women face in this context, to foster climate resilience, and strengthen gender equality and social inclusion.
To understand better the evidence on gendered impacts of STIBs on resilience building in the agrifood system across Africa and Asia, HER+ has developed an evidence map with the Centre for Evaluation and Development (C4ED), Germany. In addition, HER+ has also elaborated a framework to enhance women’s empowerment and resilience by addressing gender-specific barriers and challenges with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), UK. Case studiesundertaken by NGOs in four regions of India show the potential of STIBs to generate gender-transformative impacts, provided they are intentional, co-designed with women to meet their articulated needs and local context. They comprise: the Grameen Foundation India in Uttar Pradesh, Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST) and Utthan in Gujarat, Satmile Satish Club “O” Pathagar (SSCOP) in the eastern Gangetic plain, and Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) in Maharashtra.
I see these women gradually embracing entrepreneurial thinking. They are now considering ways to enhance and expand their work which to me is a very significant transformation.
Jhumpa Ghosh, Change Initiatives, India.
In collaboration with the IVRI, a key institution in the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), HER+ is facilitating two Livestock Learning Labs in West Bengal with three NGOs: Society for Equitable and Voluntary Action (SEVA), Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN) and Change Initiatives. Building on the Government of India schemes, the labs aim to improve the climate resilience and livelihoods of landless women farmers. An extensive and rigorous participatory co-design, planning and implementation process, engaged all key stakeholders and, most importantly, the women farmers as partners in and drivers throughout the process. The process focused on complex challenges faced by these women in rearing goats and poultry. This involved taking a step back to reflect and learn. In September 2024, a reflection and learning workshop in Kolkata, West Bengal, provided the opportunity for key stakeholders to critically examine and consolidate learning from project activities and outcomes thus far. Results show that STIBs increased women’s knowledge, skills and confidence in managing their livestock. Women are now able to vaccinate their animals in time, alleviating their major challenge of low productivity and mortality of livestock. Beyond equipping them with technological know-how and technical skills, the project has also enhanced their social capabilities. Women participate in meetings confidently, use mobile phones to communicate with one another, market their produce collectively, and have gained more respect in their families and communities.
Downstream partners, such as IVRI and the NGOs, are also embracing the STIBs approach. Jhumpa Ghosh of Change Initiatives emphasized the benefits of involving multiple stakeholders because it boosts project efficiency by providing easy access to diverse expertise. Dr Mahesh Chander, Principal Scientist at IVRI, considered that the approach provided first-hand experience in navigating the complexities of learning labs, advocating for more widespread adoption by Indian National Agricultural Research and Extension Services (NARES), and the Indian government livestock development departments.
This experience highlights how multi-stakeholder and co-design approaches are important for tackling complex challenges […] and should be adopted widely.
Dr Mahesh Chander, Principal Scientist, Division of Agricultural Extension Education, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Indian Council of Agricultural Research.