Gender, nutrition- and climate-smart food production: Opportunities and trade-offs

Abstract

Future food and nutrition security is threatened by climate change, overexploitation of natural resources and pervasive social inequalities. Promising solutions are often technology-focused and not necessarily developed considering gender and social disparities. This paper addresses issues of gender and human development opportunities and tradeoffs related to promoting improved technologies for agricultural development. We examined these aspects for conservation agriculture (CA) as part of a cropping system with nutrition-and climate-smart potential. The paper is based on a literature review and field experiences from Zambia and Mexico. Findings point up situations where the promotion of CA for smallholders in developing countries may have undesired effects from gender and human development perspectives, specifically relating to drudgery, nutrition and food security, residue use, assets, mechanization and extension. The direction and magnitude of potential trade-offs depend on the local context and the specific intervention. The analysis is followed by a discussion of opportunities and pathways for mitigating the trade-offs, including gender transformative approaches; engagement with alternative or non-traditional partners with different but complementary perspectives and strengths; "smart" combinations of technologies and approaches; and policies for inclusive development.

Assessment of gender and innovations in climate-smart agriculture for food and nutrition security in Kenya: a case of Kalii watershed

“…The study found that not all gender cadres benefitted equally from the marketing of the produce and livestock proceeds, women and youths gained less than men because most livestock belonged to men. This concurs with the findings of a study by Beuchelt and Badstue (2013), which shows that women smallholders often lost control over the market niches, resources and products they traditionally managed. Once those resources and products became lucrative, men often took over the production and marketing, even of traditional women's crops.…”

Saying all the right things? Gendered discourse in climate-smart agriculture

“…Concurring with past critiques of superficial approaches to gender in agricultural policy, Beuchelt and Badstue (2013) recommend the use of both 'gender-responsive' and 'gendertransformative' approaches. To do so requires a more comprehensive view of agricultural practices and resource management, as well as roles and relations in a given community.…”

“…Of particular note, the module builds from the research of Meinzen-Dick et al (2011) and Beuchelt and Badstue (2013), and elaborates on the differences between 'genderresponsive' and 'gender-transformative' approaches, distinguishing between responding to gender-differentiated needs and a more comprehensive understanding of gendered power relations recognizing sociocultural constraints and the distribution of benefits. In doing so, the module highlights new levels of analysis and the implications for CSA practices:…”

“…They note examples of new technologies in Bangladesh and Vietnam that replaced the paid labor performed by low-income women. In other cases, the introduction of herbicides has eliminated 'weeds' that were actually used by women as a subsistence crop, depriving women of an accessible and affordable food source (Beuchelt and Badstue 2013). Farnworth et al (2016) also note that the failure to consider gender and gender relations in the practices of conservation agriculture often leads to low adoption rates.…”

Nutrition-sensitive agriculture: new term or new concept?

“…In the literature about nutrition-sensitive agriculture, the most discussed links to care were the time burden women face, which affects child care and thus child health and nutritional status [28,35]. This aspect was only considered by half of the countries that participated in the survey.…”