Gender report fair planet project: Adopting gender approaches to promote productivity and income generation in vegetable farming

In Ethiopia, women make up 49.74% of the estimated population and 25 percent of all Ethiopian households are female headed yet Ethiopia is ranked 174th out of 185 countries on the Global Gender Development Index (GGDI). In rural areas, 57 percent of all working women and 88 percent of men (aged 15-49) are engaged in small holder agricultural occupations. Women’s tasks include land preparation, weeding, trellising, harvesting, threshing and storing. Despite the important role women play in agricultural production their role is often under-recognized, and their optimal contribution to productivity and profits remains untapped. Women face greater constraints than men due to their differentiated gender specific needs and barriers in their agribusiness participation. Gender inequalities and barriers for women in Ethiopia’s agribusiness sector includes limited participation by women in key agribusiness market activities, limited participation in capacity building initiatives and a general lack of access to agricultural inputs that affect their overall output. Addressing gender specific barriers in the agricultural sector is paramount as it tackles the subsequent loss in productivity and promotes increase in income from agriculture. The Fair Planet project aimed to increase smallholder farmers’ productivity and income from vegetable farming through access to affordable high quality vegetable seeds, improved and sustainable farming practices and better links to markets. To support this goal, the gender component of the project adapted a gender aware intervention strategy that sought to mainstream gender sensitivity in the project activities in order to increase the meaningful participation of women farmers. In this approach, it was paramount to first understand the gender related barriers in the project context; and then adapt interventions that sought to address these barriers, while ensuring that the proposed interventions do not cause a negative effect to the economic and sociocultural fabric of the target communities. The main conclusion therefore is that effective interventions that seek to increase smallholder farmers’ productivity and income and agricultural development need to look beyond technical interventions and consider existing gender dynamics in the farm and households, because gender dynamics have a significant impact on productivity outcomes. Intervention strategies need to understand existing gender practices in target communities and their effect on intended production and income outcomes in order to adapt and modify strategies to recognize and incorporate the gender sensitive approaches. Gender aware intervention programs recognizes the centrality of gender roles, barriers and opportunities food production, processing and marketing strategies; and focus on sustainable and meaning participation outcomes that promote gender equality in agribusiness productivity.