Women – Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI)

Asia-Pacific women in research and extension: Advancing gender equality in innovation

Vishwanath Sah — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 04:12:00 +0000

To celebrate the 2022 International Women’s Day, the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), in collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services Network (APIRAS), identified six outstanding women, who have made significant contributions through innovation towards improved agri-food development in Asia-Pacific. Their stories were shared in a webinar on ‘Women in research and extension: Advancing gender equality in innovation’ on 8 March 2022.

This publication is an outcome of this webinar, focusing on women’s key contributions to innovation through agricultural research and extension.

AESA Good Practices 56- Farmer Producer Company as a Pathway to Change for Women Farmers in the Highlands of Odisha

Vishwanath Sah — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 08:08:33 +0000

In this Good Practice Note, Hemendra K Pratihari reflects on the evolution of Farmer Producer Companies under the Agriculture Production Cluster Programme implemented in Odisha.

It describes how Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) have helped women farmers in the highlands of Odisha, India to improve their income and gain access to markets. Through FPCs, women have been able to pool their resources and sell their products collectively, thereby increasing their bargaining power and getting better prices for their produce. The article also highlights some good practices that have contributed to the success of FPCs, such as involving women in decision-making and providing them with training and capacity building opportunities. Overall, FPCs have emerged as an effective pathway for empowering women farmers and promoting sustainable agriculture in the region.

Policy Seminar: Introducing pro-WEAI complementary indicators for nutrition- sensitive agriculture and market inclusion projects

Vishwanath Sah — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 12:38:56 +0000

POLICY SEMINAR: Introducing pro-WEAI complementary indicators for nutrition- sensitive agriculture and market inclusion projects

MAR 2, 2023 – 9:00 TO 10:30AM EST

The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) is the first-ever direct measure of women’s empowerment and inclusion in the agriculture sector. In response to demand from designers and implementors of agricultural development projects, IFPRI developed the project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) to track the impacts of these projects on women’s empowerment.

To monitor and evaluate nutrition-sensitive and market inclusion interventions, IFPRI developed two sets of add-on indicators that are designed to complement the pro-WEAI in assessing women’s health and nutrition-related agency and to identify the constraints that women face as value chain and food system actors. The project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index for health and nutrition (pro-WEAI+HN) includes the pro-WEAI indicators plus additional indicators capturing women’s health and nutrition agency. The pro-WEAI for market inclusion (pro-WEAI+MI) includes the pro-WEAI indicators plus additional indicators to investigate barriers to market access and inclusion for different value chain actors. Both sets of add-on indicators were validated using cognitive interviewing and qualitative work, and the health and nutrition indicators have also undergone psychometric validation.

This Policy Seminar will introduce the new health and nutrition (HN) and market inclusion (MI) indicators and explain how they can guide nutrition-sensitive and market inclusion elements of agricultural development projects. A panel of stakeholders—project implementers, researchers, and donors—will offer comments on these new tools and their relevance.

For more details about the agenda, speakers and registration, click here