Tools in the making: the co-construction of gender, crops, and crop breeding in African agriculture

Tarjem, Ida Arff

doi:10.1080/09718524.2022.2097621

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Transdisciplinary mapping stakeholders and their role and decision-making rights do not necessarily assure an inclusive non-disciplinary biased outcome. This is the reason why learnings from studies of power dynamics (Tarjem, 2023;Tarjem et al, 2023) related to the asymmetries between natural and social sciences that are rooted in different epistemological traditions and unequal funding will have to support effective implementation. Awareness must be raised through socialization and communication within the cassava community to acquaint stakeholders with the developed assets and provide them the opportunity to give their perspectives, which may be a source of innovation in the change and/or improvement process.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of portfolio management tools in crop breeding programs: a case study of cassava in sub-Saharan Africa

Egesi,

Mbanjo,

Kawuki

et al. 2024

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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The response to the diverse needs along the cassava value chain, the urge to increase genetic gain, and the need for rapid varietal turnover will necessitate not only technological innovations but also transformation of public breeding programs in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We developed guiding, flexible and adaptative tools for portfolio management of cassava breeding. The cassava breeding and product development pipeline process was mapped to illustrate activities of each stage, as well as to clarify key decision points. Stakeholders involved at all stages of breeding were identified. This allowed for identification of gaps and new crucial functions. To clarify accountability and reduce complexity in the decision-making at key decision points, the roles were mapped against decision-rights at each stage-gate. Cassava crop calendars for the different regions in SSA were developed to facilitate better planning. A product advancement template was developed to guide product advancement. The tools that have been developed and stage-gate mapping, will support regional efforts to establish more structured, transparent, participatory, efficient, inclusive, and demand-driven cassava breeding in the region. These approaches could be customized to other commodities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of portfolio management tools in crop breeding programs: a case study of cassava in sub-Saharan Africa

Egesi,

Mbanjo,

Kawuki

et al. 2024

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…Unfortunately, an openness to serious gender integration is not universal within breeding teams ( Tarjem, 2023 ). Gender analyses are sometimes perceived to be overly complex, not adequately rigorous, and/or a distraction from the core goals of breeding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovative approaches to integrating gender into conventional maize breeding: lessons from the Seed Production Technology for Africa project

Voss,

Cairns,

Olsen

et al. 2023

Front. Sociol.

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The integration of gender concerns in crop breeding programs aims to improve the suitability and appeal of new varieties to both women and men, in response to concerns about unequal adoption of improved seed. However, few conventional breeding programs have sought to center social inclusion concerns. This community case study documents efforts to integrate gender into the maize-focused Seed Production Technology for Africa (SPTA) project using innovation history analysis drawing on project documents and the authors’ experiences. These efforts included deliberate exploration of potential gendered impacts of project technologies and innovations in the project’s approach to variety evaluation, culminating in the use of decentralized on-farm trials using the tricot approach. Through this case study, we illustrate the power of active and respectful collaborations between breeders and social scientists, spurred by donor mandates to address gender and social inclusion. Gender integration in this case was further facilitated by open-minded project leaders and allocation of funding for gender research. SPTA proved to be fertile ground for experimentation and interdisciplinary collaboration around gender and maize breeding, and has provided proof of concept for larger breeding projects seeking to integrate gender considerations.

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“…Thirdly, the need to interpret different types of data and forms of knowledge and the cross-disciplinary nature of the project poses risk of power asymmetries between disciplines that can influence resultswhere some perspectives and disciplines can be privileged over others. 17,39,40 For this reason, the GFPP guidance emphasises equity in decision-making processes through requirements such as each discipline to sign off on the final product, and the leadership of social scientists over the process, who can typically be sidelined and undervalued in interdisciplinary processes. 19,36 This process involvedand will need to go further in the futureaddressing potential trade-offs and making the decision-making process explicit.…”

Section: The Gendered Food Product Profile (Gfpp) Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Secondly, the complexity of the preferences of diverse food system actors (e.g., producers, processors, marketers, consumers) and the push from some breeding programmes to produce a homogenous set of traits for a population, can undermine potential ‘trade‐offs’ between characteristics that have different impacts for men, women, and other social segments. Thirdly, the need to interpret different types of data and forms of knowledge and the cross‐disciplinary nature of the project poses risk of power asymmetries between disciplines that can influence results – where some perspectives and disciplines can be privileged over others 17,39,40 . For this reason, the GFPP guidance emphasises equity in decision‐making processes through requirements such as each discipline to sign off on the final product, and the leadership of social scientists over the process, who can typically be sidelined and undervalued in interdisciplinary processes 19,36 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A case of transdisciplinarity and collaborative decision making: the co‐construction of Gendered Food Product Profiles

Forsythe,

Olaosebikan,

Teeken

et al. 2024

J Sci Food Agric

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BackgroundCrop breeding in sub‐Saharan Africa has made considerable gains; however, post‐harvest and food‐related preferences have been overlooked, in addition to how these preferences vary by gender, social difference and context. This context is changing as participatory approaches using intersectional gender and place‐based methods are beginning to inform how breeding programs make decisions. This paper presents an innovative methodology to inclusively and democratically prioritise food quality traits of root, tuber and banana crops based on engagement with food systems actors and transdisciplinary collaboration. The outcome of the methodology is the Gendered Food Product Profile (GFPP) – a list of prioritised food quality characteristics ‐ to support breeders to make more socially inclusive decisions on the methods for trait characterization to select genotypes closer to the needs of food system actors.ResultsThis paper reviews application of the methodology in fourteen GFPPs, presents illustrative case studies and lessons learned. Key lessons are that the transdisciplinary structure and the key role of social scientists helped avoid reductionism, supported co‐learning, and the creation of GFPPs that represented the diverse interests of food system actors, particularly women, in situ.ConclusionsThe method partially addressed power dynamics in multidisciplinary decision making; however, effectiveness was dependent on equitable team relations and supportive institutions committed to valuing plural forms of knowledge. Actions to address power asymmetries that privilege particular types of knowledge and voices in decision making are crucial in techno‐science projects, along with opportunities for co‐learning and long‐term collaboration and a transdisciplinary structure at higher level.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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Tools in the making: the co-construction of gender, crops, and crop breeding in African agriculture

Cited by 6 publications

References 73 publications

Development of portfolio management tools in crop breeding programs: a case study of cassava in sub-Saharan Africa

Development of portfolio management tools in crop breeding programs: a case study of cassava in sub-Saharan Africa

Innovative approaches to integrating gender into conventional maize breeding: lessons from the Seed Production Technology for Africa project

A case of transdisciplinarity and collaborative decision making: the co‐construction of Gendered Food Product Profiles

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