Transforming agricultural

development and
production in Africa
Closing gender gaps and empowering rural women
in policy and practice

Results of a joint programme of the Salzburg Global Seminar and

the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development
13-17 November 2011

Enabling poor rural people

to overcome poverty
Transforming agricultural
development and
production in Africa
Closing gender gaps and empowering rural
women in policy and practice

Results of a joint programme of the Salzburg Global Seminar and

the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development
13-17 November 2011
© Salzburg Global Seminar 2012. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily
represent those of IFAD, the SGS or contributing donors. The designations employed and
the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion
whatsoever on the part of IFAD concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or
area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Cover photo: ©IFAD/Amadou Keita

ISBN 9789290723417

October 2012
Table of contents

Acknowledgements 4
Executive Summary 5
Outcomes 6
Introduction 7
Rationale 7
Engaging in dialogue: an innovative process 9
Mode of working together 9
The dialogue revealed 10
Theory of Change on gender equality in agriculture and rural development 10
Debunking myths 11
Mapping and understanding the landscape and context of rural women’s lives 12
Conditions for success 14
Challenges for success 14
Innovation development and commitmens 16
Group 1: Addressing gender issues in farmers’ organizations 16
Group 2: Institutional cooperation 17
Group 3: Climate change on air 18
Group 4: Women in value chains: promotion of cage fish farming
on Lakes Chahafi, Kayambu and others 19
Group 5: Integrated rural development 20
Group 6: Improving productivity/African cooperatives 20
Group 7: Micro-insurance 21
Recommendations and follow-up 23
List of participants 24
Appendices
I. Theory of Change - verbal 27
II. Theory of Change - visual 28

3
 Acknowledgements

The Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) and the United Nations International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) gratefully acknowledge the support and assistance of:
• IFAD/Belgian Fund for Food Security (BFFS) Joint Programme
http://www.ifad.org/bffs/
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx
• Ford Foundation http://www.fordfound.org/

They are also grateful to the co-facilitators of this IFAD/SGS Dialogue for
Action programme:
• Stephanie Clohesy, the Founder and President of Clohesy Consulting.
• M. Malusi Mpumlwana, Bishop of the Northern Diocese of the Ethiopian
Episcopal Church; Chair, Food Bank Foundation; and Board Member, Trust Africa.

Special mention goes to Catherine Hill, specialist in gender equality and equity, and
women’s empowerment issues in the context of agriculture, who produced this report,
and to Maria Hartl (IFAD), Alessandra Pani (IFAD/BFFS) and Nancy Smith (SGS) for
editorial assistance.
This report aims to reflect the complexity of the discussions that took place during
the meeting, without claiming to provide an exhaustive representation of them, and the
outcome of those discussions.

The SGS is a unique international institution focused on global change – a place

dedicated to candid dialogue, fresh thinking and the search for innovative and practical
solutions. Founded in 1947, it challenges leaders to develop creative ideas for solving
global problems. It has brought together more than 25,000 participants from
150 countries and regions to take part in its programmes. See www.salzburgglobal.org.
IFAD, established in 1977, is a specialized agency of the United Nations and an
international financial institution (IFI). IFAD’s mission is to enable poor rural people
to overcome poverty. Working with rural poor people, governments, donors,
non-governmental organizations and many other partners, IFAD focuses on
country-specific solutions, which can involve increasing rural poor peoples’ access
to financial services, markets, technology and land and other natural resources.
See www.ifad.org.
The BFFS was created by the Belgian Parliament in 1983 in response to drought- and
famine-related deaths in East Africa. The following year, the IFAD/BFFS Joint Programme,
a collaborative partnership, was formed to pursue a common goal: helping poor people in
rural areas overcome poverty and improve food security. BFFS provides grants to pay for
rural development projects, with a particular focus on food security, as well as on nutrition,
education, water and sanitation, and gender in some of the poorest countries in Africa.
The Joint Programme closed down on 31 December 2011. See www.ifad.org/bffs/.

4
Executive Summary

Over 50 experts from more than 20 countries “The seminar was most useful and
productive, and reflected new
convened in Salzburg, Austria, in November approaches and innovative
2011 for a special Dialogue for Action meeting thinking that can take African
entitled Transforming Agricultural agricultural development forward!
It is my sincerest hope that the
Development and Production in Africa: Closing resolutions and commitments
Gender Gaps and Empowering Rural Women in made during the seminar will be
put into practice across Africa.”
Policy and Practice. Designed to accelerate rural
Participant, South Africa
and agricultural development in Africa, the
meeting focused on investment in women.
It was organized by the Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS)
with support from the United Nations International Fund
for Agricultural Development (IFAD)/Belgian Fund for
Food Security (BFFS) Joint Programme.
Participants were a diverse mix, including representatives of rural women’s groups and
farmers’ organizations, private-sector leaders and investors, government officials, and
donor and multilateral institutions. They met to examine the landscape of current
activity, to explore shared goals and to develop innovative ways to collaborate and take
common action.
This Salzburg meeting was timely, given that recent reports by IFAD, the World Bank
and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) clearly show that
empowering rural women increases agricultural production and food security in Africa.
With these findings in mind, the participants focused on identifying successful
interventions that could be further developed and devising mechanisms that could be
used to close persistent gender gaps in policy and practice, such as differential access to
financial tools, productive resources, and leadership and decision-making.
Dr Makaziwe Mandela, Chair of Nozala Investments (Pty) Ltd, a broad-based women’s
investment company, and Executive Director of Nagul Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd,
launched the meeting.

5
 She challenged the participants to create practical solutions now:
“We need to focus on the things that work. We have plenty of best practices across the continent
and those need to be replicated and scaled up. There is a lot of hope for rural women in Africa,
but unless they become part of the decision-making process, very little progress can be made.”
Presentations by representatives of IFAD, the International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the
International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) set the stage for the sharing of
experiences. A Theory of Change, articulated during the meeting, helped the participants
to define actionable goals.

Outcomes
Participants gained new information and insights. Using the Theory of Change to guide
their thinking and actions, and drawing from existing good practice, they came up with
a number of practical proposals to empower women. They also forged new
institutional linkages and created new opportunities for partnership, while deepening
existing cooperation.
The following innovations were developed and proposed:
• Producing an interactive radio programme involving local farmers that will give a
voice to rural women and allow indigenous and new knowledge to be pooled on
how to reduce the harmful effects of climate change.
• Orchestrating change through better institutional cooperation, including mapping
activities at subregional levels.
• Creating new market-based products to support rural women farmers, such as
micro-insurance schemes.
• Working with farmers’ organizations to address gender inequality and to highlight
the roles of women and young people in value chains.
• Strengthening multisector cooperatives to support value-chain improvements and
the inclusion of rural women.
• Boosting training, capacity-building and education in gender in agriculture.

6
Introduction

Rationale
The global food crisis of 2007/08 reminded the international “For decades we have known that
community of the vital part played by smallholder farmers in the best way for Africa to thrive is
ensuring food security. Women are a critical force in agriculture and to ensure that its women have the
rural development in sub-Saharan Africa, yet their central role in freedom, power and knowledge to
food security has been largely ignored, particularly in policy. make decisions affecting their
The time is right to put rural women’s economic empowerment high own lives and those of their
on the international policy agenda and to advance the recognition of families and communities.”
rural women in Africa as agents of change. At last, there is Kofi Annan
widespread consensus on the need to shift long-held perceptions of
rural women across Africa as “victims” and “passive aid recipients”,
and, instead, to recognize them as development managers who
urgently deserve investment.
Building on this growing recognition of the need to support
Africa’s rural women, a special Dialogue for Action meeting was hosted
by the Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) alongside the United Nations
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), with the
support of the Belgian Fund for Food Security (BFFS). This dialogue
was designed to identify new ways to speed up agricultural
development in Africa by investing in women and empowering Maria Hartl speaking at the opening of
the seminar
women. Actions and initiatives were formulated and partnerships were
created that will strengthen women’s roles in agricultural development
in sub-Saharan Africa.

7
 The Dialogue for Action meeting brought together a cross-section of
stakeholders, including representatives of rural women’s groups and
farmers’ organizations, private-sector leaders and investors, government
officials, and multilateral institutions and donors. They met to examine
shared goals and strategic entry points for collaborative action.
The programme was designed to:
• Highlight and share concrete policies, programmes and practices
that strengthen food security and have a positive impact on rural
Sheila Mwanundu, IFAD, participates in women’s empowerment, and determine which approaches are
the dialogue ready to be scaled up.
• Identify strategic interventions and actions for increasing and
improving agricultural production through rural women’s
• empowerment and indicate areas where stronger leadership by key
actors will be critical to overcome bottlenecks.
• Widen partnerships and shared commitment to joint actions
among participants and identify accountability measures and
incentives for monitoring implementation.

8
Engaging in dialogue:
an innovative process

The Salzburg programme was designed to be a participatory learning “To solve any complex problem
and action process building on powerful ideas for social change to you have to start everywhere at
enable participants’ transformation. The process involved: once! ... [This] requires that many
• defining and framing (or reframing) the issue people understand the issue and
• thinking about how to meet needs in ways that transform not have the confidence and
only the lives of recipients, but, also those of the people working encouragement to leap into
with them creating solutions. SGS
• engaging participants to create a critical mass of belief and ‘will’ understands this and helped us to
to make change on a particular issue create a peer learning process,
• creating systemic change through innovations in institutions, which also “democratizes” the
systems of service, policies and laws innovation process.”
• improving the capacity of institutions to bring about social Participant, USA
change, service and movement-building
• fighting backlash and creating deep pathways for implementation.

Mode of working together

By creating a neutral environment, the programme recognized the
unique value of each participant’s experience and contribution.
Participants were challenged to work directly on ideas that would or
could initiate change in service or systems. They were actively
committed to inventing and doing. The group moved rapidly from
Bishop M. Malusi Mpumlwana in conversation
describing current landscapes, to identifying drivers of change, to with Olive Luena
defining the key issues and opportunities, and then on to engaging in
innovation development.
The participatory approach taken during the meeting forged “The ambience, the working
innovative links at multiple levels. It strengthened networking potential relations, the organization of the
as well as cross-sectoral and inter-organizational relationships (for event bringing the BEST out of
example, between the United Nations, NGOs, and private and public participants and taking everybody
partnerships), as participants were exposed to different perspectives seriously, regardless of their
from both inside and outside Africa. The exchanges offered fresh ways position or experiences – the
of thinking and collaborating. match of different people was just
amazing and outstanding.”
Participant, Germany

9
 The dialogue revealed

“The best systems of change Theory of Change on gender equality in agriculture and
succeed with a hybrid structure of rural development
some centralized visioning and
A Theory of Change (appendix 1) on gender equality in agriculture and
coordination along with the
rural development was crafted before the Dialogue for Action meeting.
management of a near chaotic
Drawing on the findings of current research, the Theory of Change enabled
level of innovation and problem
participants to begin their work with a common frame, so that during
solving everywhere in those
the meeting they could move more quickly to thinking about action.
systems. Recognizing this,
SGS enabled its partners to As they began to share their ideas and develop innovations, the group
challenge all participants to learn fine-tuned the Theory of Change to reflect changes in their thinking.
together and to experiment with The Theory of Change specified the following conditions for the
on-the-spot innovation.” attainment of gender equality and the economic and social
empowerment of women in rural development and agriculture:
Participant, Zimbabwe
• Women’s voices are heard and their influence felt in
decision-making, as well as direction-setting, at household,
local, national and global levels.
• Rights are implemented and laws are reformed and enforced in
ways that help to shift norms and enhance the condition of
women’s lives. Such rights include not only freedom from violence
and access to resources and essential services, but also inclusion
and participation in new social, economic and political spaces.
• Enhanced agricultural policies, programmes and incentives
systematically improve rural livelihoods, along with rural and
agricultural infrastructure and services. They also create equal
Keynote speaker Makaziwe Mandela
addresses the delegates access to economic opportunities that empower rural women and
strengthen the rural economy overall.
• Financial and productive resources are equally accessible to poor
“The underlying Theory of Change rural women and men. This access helps women develop
is important to evaluate ourselves entrepreneurial activities in agriculture (mostly smallholder) and
and look into whether what we are other business activities.
promoting to facilitate change and
• Better community organizations and social structures are
enable the people we serve to
developed that include women and listen to women’s voices.
improve their livelihoods is actually
Improvements in this area will help to limit women’s vulnerability
the right path.”
and allow them greater influence in local decisions, and will
Participant, Uganda enhance community.

10
The group determined that there is an urgent need to engage men, as well as women,
in support of transformative action towards greater gender equality and women’s
empowerment. Work must be done to overcome men’s (and women’s) fear of change,
including resistance and potential backlash. Moreover, there is a need for more effective
policy, programming, and the monitoring and evaluation of institutions so the
effectiveness of social change can be assessed.

Debunking myths
The group sought to move beyond the ‘gender myths’ that have long
circulated about rural women in the context of agriculture. Available
evidence suggests, for example, that it is not correct to say that women
produce food by themselves, or that they form the majority of the poor.
Also, female-headed households are not necessarily the poorest of the
poor. Though women appear to own only 1 per cent of the world’s
land, this statistic may be a reflection of the fact that such figures take
into account only individual land titling and not joint titles and other Delegates are challenged to debunk
tenure systems. ‘gender myths’

Over 15 years of research, supported by the recent State of Food and

Agriculture Report of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),
“The seminar also showed the
provide powerful evidence for the need to reduce the gender gap in
progress that has been made so
agriculture and rural development. However, further research needs to far. I am particularly impressed by
be done to determine what works on the ground and can be more the quality of the development
widely adapted and replicated. Women play key roles in agriculture and practitioners who attended the
poverty reduction and their assets are vital, particularly in relation to seminar, most of whom were
the household. Moreover, it is clear that rural women use the income women working in Africa or in
they generate to improve the health, and food and nutrition security of organizations that support
their children, as well as to provide educational opportunities for them. agricultural development in Africa.
The group considered that a multidimensional view of poverty may … I learned a lot from these
provide a clearer perspective on intrahousehold dynamics and rural practitioners.”
women’s realities, thus helping to debunk some of the gender myths. Participant, South Africa
Such an approach needs to cut across areas such as family law, property
rights and citizenship, as well as legal literacy and legislative reforms.
Furthermore, the group noted that the popular unitary model of the
household economy is not an effective way to understand the gendered
dynamics and distribution of assets that the household possesses. There
is a need to look within households to see how resources are distributed
by gender. This approach will also help us to understand how women’s
bargaining power is diminished because they control fewer resources
than men. Improving women’s access to assets can increase agricultural
productivity and food security, and improve the nutrition, health and
education of children. “What we CAN’T say”… debunking common
gender myths

11
 The group also learned of the strong correlation between countries with a high gender
gap, as tracked by the OECD’s Global Gender Gap Index, and those struggling with high
levels of hunger, as tracked by IFPRI’s Global Hunger Index. Addressing gender gaps in
agricultural initiatives can increase sustainability by 16 per cent.
Despite these recent improvements in our understanding of rural women’s lives, there
continues to be a lack of data on the gender dimension in agriculture and rural
development. Likewise, there is a lack of capacity for the collection and analysis of such
data. Expertise is needed at all levels to shape supportive policy and programming.

Mapping and understanding the landscape and context of

rural women’s lives
The group also recognized that the landscape of rural women’s
experience must be understood by looking beyond the agricultural
sector to other areas of women’s and men’s lives and livelihoods.
While there are specific differences in rural women’s lives in the context
of agriculture across sub-Saharan Africa, there are also some
commonalities in context and drivers of change that are useful to
Describing a Theory of Change consider (appendix 2).
The trend that saw rural women and men looking to urban areas
for opportunities has recently reversed. Many educated women are now
“I’ve been very encouraged to see returning to agriculture as a feasible enterprise and investment option.
talented young people are doing Some women are also choosing to engage in non-farm employment in
things on the ground. We need to
rural areas.
listen more to what people are
Not only is Africa a rich continent that could benefit greatly from
doing on the ground, and try to
efforts to modernize agriculture, it is also becoming more
help where we think there are
technologically sophisticated and business-oriented. The scene across
difficulties or obstacles.”
the continent is changing rapidly, with new pressures and challenges
Participant, South Africa emerging. Smallholder farmers, particularly, are feeling the impact of
climate change, global markets and commercial land acquisitions.
There is a growing body of rural women and men producers and
entrepreneurs. New opportunities are also emerging from enhanced
access to information through new technologies, such as the availability
of market information through cell phones.

Areas for action

If women are to be supported in this environment, the group identified
a number of areas where action is required, including:
• Strengthening and reforming legal and rights-based frameworks
Working together on fresh ideas (Yolisa
Pakela Jezile, center)
along with customary practices, through adequate political will.
Women and men must participate in this process and appropriate
resources, including incentives, must be dedicated to it.

12
 • Improving the policy environment for women, so that budgets “I believe my generation, the
are developed which respect the indigenous knowledge of present crop of young people in
communities and the specific needs of women. Examples of Africa, young men in Africa, are
innovative policy environments include: Uganda’s system of more amenable to women’s
decentralization of governments and spending, and South Africa’s equality, giving women their rights
gender policies and frameworks. and empowering women to go out
• Ensuring that women’s voices are heard through the enhancement and achieve results.”
of community education and awareness-raising programmes, Participant, Nigeria
which encourage women’s participation as leaders, whether in
rural councils or parliament. Examples include: Rwanda, where
women must form at least 30 per cent of political representation;
Kenya, which has strong and respected women parliamentarians
and advocates; and Liberia, which has a female president and
minister of agriculture along with other powerful female
decision makers.
• Identifying or creating essential systems, infrastructure,
culture and traditions that benefit women. This process
involves educating women and men about their national and
international rights through communication channels both Building support for new interventions
within the community and through the media. The benefits (Tendai Murisa, speaking)

of women’s empowerment need exposure so that resisters

become supporters.
• Extending small-scale capacity and local resources to support
women’s participation in alternative agricultural production
practices such as organic and agroecological farming.

The roots of gender equality and sustainable development

The group identified some of the ‘roots’ that they feel need to be
present to reinforce gender equality and sustainable development in
the context of rural and agricultural development in Africa. These
include nourishing gender equality through promoting equitable gender Working in small groups (Seynabou Male
Cissé, and interpreter, pictured)
relations at all ages; recognizing the role of women in agriculture and
other areas; and reducing women’s household burdens. Important
contributions include ensuring that women and girls have
opportunities in education, training and the development of life skills.
Women also need to be included in research on issues affecting their
lives. Finally, efforts aimed at strengthening women’s and girls’ health
and well-being must recognize the impact of various ecological,
financial, social and physical factors on them.

13
 Conditions for success
The group suggested that women’s empowerment is achievable through a combination
of actions at different levels, including facilitating women’s access to productive
resources, ensuring their rights to assets and benefits, and improving their participation
in decision-making processes at all levels.
Conditions for the achievement of these goals include:
• Engaging men as partners and as a condition for success in working towards gender
equality and women’s empowerment.
• Raising awareness about rights and policies, and improving the potential to
translate policies and laws into action.
• Recognizing women’s capital contributions so that they can achieve improved
access to financial services.
• Information-sharing through the use of media that is accessible
“The working groups were and sensitive to the conditions of women’s daily lives.
tremendous and dynamic! • Reinforcing a supportive political environment that represents
Interacting and sharing ideas with women’s views.
people from diverse countries, • Improving the environment and enhancing infrastructure so that
culture, professions and women have better access to resources.
backgrounds with the zeal of
transforming agricultural
development and closing gender
Challenges for success
gaps provided an atmosphere for
Global systems
in-depth, copious discussions on
getting realistic results.” Factors that pose challenges for success in reaching gender equality
include a number of global structural issues such as:
Participant, Nigeria
• limited access to markets and market failures
• unfair policies (especially trade policies), conventions and treaties
• globalized commodity exchanges and trade barriers that have
particular impact on poor people and smallholder farmers,
including rural women
• information and technology gaps that particularly affect
smallholders and rural women who have difficulty accessing
effective extension services
• global reporting of issues that does not accurately reflect the true
realities of rural women and men.

Describing new systems (Raymond Kamwe,

speaking) While global systems are continuously evolving, the group affirmed that
gender is increasingly relevant and increasingly recognized by the
international community as a key factor. In order to provide better
indicators of the impact of gender in the global context, a Women’s Empowerment in
Agriculture Index (see http://www.ifpri.org/sites/
default/files/publications/weai_brochure.pdf) has been designed by the Feed the Future
Initiative and IFPRI, together with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development
Initiative (OPHI). New indicators now in use include: household decision-making;
access to and control over productive capital; use of income after basic household needs
are met; time allocation (workload/leisure); and leadership.

14
National issues
The group recognized that women’s voices need to be heard more in
governance at regional and national levels. In addition, lack of
international investment in agricultural development in recent decades
has left rural women and men struggling with poor infrastructure and
services at local levels. And the ‘land grabs’ and ‘commercial land
acquisition”‘ of recent years have also created problems for smallholder
farmers, pastoralists and others. Political conflict and instability in
many countries and localities also undermine efforts to work towards Informal discussions (Maria Hartl and
gender equality. Raphael Onyeaghala, facing)

Local practices
Participants recognized that certain traditional practices (such as early marriage or
genital mutilation) compromise women’s empowerment. Such practices, and other local
norms that disempower women, can also have a negative impact on women’s ability to
generate income and food security. There is also, often, a lack of human and financial
resources at the local level and a need to ensure that new technologies introduced to
improve food security, or the like, are appropriate for the community.

Individual capacity
Social change requires long-term commitment and effort on the part of development
agencies. The short donor funding cycles of one to two years simply do not allow for
meaningful capacity-building within communities. Nor is there time for agencies to
examine and address resistance and backlash that stall progress towards gender equality
and women’s empowerment.
Furthermore, there is a need to improve accessibility to training and education
sensitive to the needs of girls and women. Participants learned of innovative approaches
to agricultural and rural development training that have combined attention to both the
technical and social needs of women. These can be adapted and scaled up for greater
impact, and include recent efforts to engage men as agents of social change in
value-chain initiatives and farmer field schools.

15
 Innovation development
and commitments

During the meeting, participants worked in small groups and devised

the following proposed initiatives, which attempt to realize in practice
their ideas for building women’s empowerment and gender equality in
the context of rural agricultural development.

Group 1: Addressing gender issues in farmers’ organizations

Background/problem
A small group at work
Farmers’ organizations worldwide continue to be dominated by adult
men. This trend is often a result of deeply-rooted institutional norms
“This session [...] enabled and membership requirements that militate against the participation
participants to think, talk and learn of more vulnerable actors, such as women and young people. These
from each other and then gender and generation gaps in farmers’ organizations limit the
challenged them to roll up their sustainability and cohesion of these groups and jeopardize efforts to
sleeves and come up with some reduce poverty.
answers [...]. The process To overcome these constraints, IFAD and other donors have
transformed participants’ thinking, provided incentives and implemented capacity-development activities
relationships and commitments for to encourage people to create more inclusive organizations. Innovative
future strategies and policies on approaches have been piloted with the aim of supporting genuine
upgrading the place of women in processes of organizational change. These work towards establishing a
African agricultural development broader consensus on the need for gender and intergenerational equity
and production.” in producers’ organizations. In addition, they strive to improve
Participant, USA cooperation and mutual understanding among family members.
Examples of innovative approaches include the implementation of
the Gender Action Learning System in Uganda and the Closing the Gap
“I am now organizing an methodology in Central America. Both methodologies provide simple
end-of-year capacity-building and easy-to-use tools that enable women and men members of
workshop in which the Salzburg farmers’ organizations to negotiate and develop a common vision for
Global Seminar will be a reference change. That vision encompasses various institutional levels (that is,
point for where we are at in the household, the organization and the market), and incorporates the
promoting efforts for rural views and perspective of women and men farmers, including the young.
womens’ empowerment As a result of these approaches, many farmers’ organizations have
and development.” now developed the capacity to provide better-targeted support services
Participant, Kenya that respond to the specific needs of different segments of the
population. They have increased the participation of women and
young people in leadership positions thereby fuelling transparency,
democratic governance and sustainability. In some cases, young people
and women have formed committees to create spaces where they can

16
address their needs and elaborate their own development visions. Some farmers’
organizations have also promoted the development of women’s brands. Overall, these
experiences demonstrate that more inclusive farmers’ organizations can become an
engine of rural economies. Not only can they improve access to profitable markets and
employment opportunities, but they can foster social cohesion and active citizenship.

Overview of concept
The proposed initiative would involve the organization of regional capacity-building
workshops to be held in rural areas with representatives of farmers’ organizations and
IFAD-supported projects, and other partners. The workshops would give participants a
platform to exchange strategies for promoting gender and intergenerational equity in
farmers’ organizations. They would help build capacity to replicate and
scale up successfully tested gender- and/or youth-sensitive approaches
to organizational development. Field visits would be included as part
of the capacity-building process. These would enable participants to
assess the impact of organizational change on the well-being and
cohesion of poor rural households and the empowerment of
women farmers.

Group 2: Institutional cooperation

Small group at work in the library
Background/problem
Around the world, organizations working in development have their
respective gender programmes and initiatives. However, these may not
be mutually coherent and reinforcing. Furthermore, there is an
overarching lack of awareness of the breadth and content of gender-
related initiatives both in the past and in the present. Specifically,
fragmentation and lack of coherence in relation to gender exist within
and across organizations and institutions. There is also a lack of
continuity between research and practice at all levels, whether local,
regional or global. Moreover, at any point in time, in the many multi-
or inter-agency initiatives that are being pursued in various countries,
A working group confers in the
gender may not even be addressed. ‘Chinese Room’
Improved institutional collaboration could provide the momentum
to support gender equality and women’s empowerment. The internal
barriers that naturally exist in institutions need to be mapped and “This [seminar] was an important
addressed so that collaboration can be fostered and synergy promoted event in my professional life in
for greater impact on gender initiatives. Current examples of terms of integrating these
collaboration that exist and can be built upon include: the recent important issues into my work as
experiences of the Multi-Stakeholder Legume Platform in Malawi; well as a concrete means by which
Women Accessing Realigned Markets (WARM) in Malawi and to address them in the action plans
Mozambique; the country-level Gender Working Group in Kenya; the and networks of people with whom
United Nations Joint Programming Exercise in Kenya and Uganda; and to work on them.”
the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Participant, USA
Change Process.

17
 Overview of concept
Working together as an ‘orchestra’, all organizations would have important roles, some
playing greater or lesser parts at times. They would be led by a rotating ‘conductor’ with
a common goal of improving the way in which the international community
(institutions at the global, regional, national and local levels) performs on gender
equality and women’s empowerment. The effort would provide an opportunity to
reinforce the work of each organization towards a common goal. It would also
cooperatively leverage funding in a way that is attractive to donors; support efforts to
strengthen legislation and policy; and provide peer pressure to promote improvement.
To realize this agenda would require training, funding, political will, champions at
different levels and in various agencies, and rewards and incentives. The concept would
initially develop through dialoguing and establishing relationships with organizations
interested in cultivating a global community of practice in the area of gender.

Group 3: Climate change on air

Background/problem
Millions of poorly educated smallholders, particularly women living in
remote communities in sub-Saharan Africa, have no access to
information on how to cope with climate change. This huge
population knows little about the risks associated with climate change
or its impact on their agricultural productivity and income. At the same
time, there are elements of indigenous knowledge and practice that can
Delegates confer (Jemimah Njuki and Joan be effective in limiting negative impacts on local crops.
Kabayambi)
The rapidly changing climate has unsettled seasonal cycles and
altered natural water-supply systems across Africa. New rainfall patterns
have led to uncertainties in the onset of the farming season, resulting
in late harvests, harvest failure and, ultimately, food shortages. The
frequency of floods and landslides is also on the increase. Rising
temperatures pose a challenge to smallholder farmers who cultivate
roots and tuber crops, and raise livestock. In several countries, the
rainforest is scorched and retreating. Increasing incidence of torrential
rainfall is destroying valuable soil nutrients through massive rainfall
runoff. Huge gully erosions affect acres of farmland. Coastal
communities across the continent are also susceptible to flooding in
Pitching ideas (Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu,
speaking) the event of a rise in sea level.
Smallholder farmers in Africa can only prepare for and adjust to the
negative effects of climate change if they fully understand what is
happening. Effective communication channels are critical to help
farmers adapt. Radio is the most efficient way to reach smallholders in the most remote
communities of the continent. It is a familiar technology that also allows them to
communicate their knowledge and experience. While there is a great deal of researched
information available on climate change, it has been generated by scientists and
journalists and is not typically aimed at this farming audience. The goal is to ensure that
women and men farmers understand climate change messages and find them relevant
and useful, and can also share their own knowledge and experience.

18
Overview of concept
The proposed initiative would empower smallholder farmers, especially women, to
produce and broadcast a radio drama series featuring climate risk management
strategies. The 20-episode radio drama would be produced in local languages and aired
on select radio stations across Africa over a period of one year. This would strengthen
smallholder farmers’ capacity to innovate and manage climate risk in the targeted
countries. The goal would be to stimulate them to develop their own microclimate risk
management strategies to secure their livelihoods.

Group 4: Women in value chains: promotion of cage fish “This session created stronger
farming on Lakes Chahafi, Kayambu and others partnerships... I’ve already started
Background/problem conversations with several
Smallholders living near and depending on Lakes Chahafi and scientists from universities (public
Kayambu in Kesoro District (Uganda) and Lake Burela in and private) in Kenya and Nigeria
Ruhengera District (Rwanda) face great challenges in producing to develop a proposal to examine
post-harvest technologies to
enough food, earning enough income and sustainably managing
minimize post-harvest losses of
natural resources. Strengthening smallholders’ knowledge and skills in
agricultural products.”
integrated rural resources management could improve their livelihoods,
food and nutrition security, and protect the fragile ecosystems on which Participant , USA

they depend. For example, integrating cage fish farming into existing
irrigated rice schemes could generate income, strengthen markets for
locally produced grains (soya, maize, wheat, sorghum, barley), develop
new village industries and bolster community harmony.

Overview of concept
The proposed initiative would involve a project to integrate cage fish
farming into existing irrigated rice schemes. It would focus on
improving food production; leveraging, protecting and conserving
community resources; and generating income in ways that would bring
Integrating women in value chains
the maximum benefits to women, men and their dependents. Young
people and people living with disabilities would also be involved.
Aquaculture value chains would be strengthened as cage fish farming is
integrated into irrigated rice schemes.
This initiative would build on work undertaken on fish farming in Uganda
(for example, the work in Jinja and Kabale Districts) and the efforts of the Kajjanji
Aquaculture Development Research Centre, Kampala, along with other farming projects in
Rwanda. With the support of donor funding, the initiative would draw on human resources
from NGOs, community-based organizations and research institutions, and would promote
public-private partnerships, specifically in relation to technology development.
The project would undertake a baseline survey and needs assessment to map the
situation on the ground. It would mobilize the support of women and men smallholder
farmers for cage fish farming and integrated rural resource management as a sustainable
development initiative supporting local communities.

19
“The Salzburg Global Seminar Group 5: Integrated rural development
discussed real life issues […] Unlike Background/problem
other conferences where […] In Zimbabwe and Zambia, many rural communities depend on
professors make […] keynote erratic agricultural production and have severely limited livelihood
addresses that are not relevant to the opportunities. An integrated rural development approach can offer
problems of the local people, the people a range of livelihood opportunities and open up new
Salzburg Global Seminar discussions
entrepreneurial avenues and service industries. At the same time, such
were spot on. As a community
an approach can contribute to the preservation of the rural ecosystem
development practitioner based in
through such activities as agroforestry, bee-keeping and honey harvesting,
rural Uganda, I was energized to
or ecotourism and cultural tourism. Specifically, Zimbabwe’s Eastern
carry on with my career.”
Highlands offer potential for mushroom harvesting along with tourist
Participant, Uganda activities that include trout fishing, golf, wildlife tourism and cultural
attractions. Zambia’s Central and North-Western Provinces offer the
potential for agroforestry, commercialized honey production and
forest reserve management.

Overview of concept
The proposed initiative would be to leverage public- and private-sector
investment to develop, brand and market products in specific value
chains that build on existing resources and, in many cases, traditional
practices. This process would include educating and undertaking
negotiations with chiefs, leaders and influential people, civil society
Capturing new ideas
organizations, educators, head teachers, school boards, businesses and
outside investors to help to change community attitudes and perceptions.
Governments would need to provide infrastructure, and the private
sector would have to be lobbied to form investment partnerships
(for example, supporting community trusts). Young women and men
would have new opportunities to develop marketable skills in activities
such as agroforestry, bee-keeping and tourism. Entrepreneurial and job
opportunities would allow them to launch new businesses. Skills and
employment creation in these areas would lead to improved access to
education, diverse and increased incomes, improved livelihoods and
environmental conservation.
Plenary discussion (Everlyne Nairesia,
standing)

Group 6: Improving productivity/African cooperatives

“Participants were drawn from wide
Background/problem
areas of expertise and the ideas
Across Africa, women are heavily involved in agricultural production.
were cutting across the entire value
However, they lack access to proper storage and processing facilities,
chain, making them practical for
and to the technologies that could provide them with opportunities for
implementation. There was free flow
increasing their income. They also lack the skills to add value to their
of ideas as a result of extensive
products. Enhancing rural women’s production and processing skills
group discussions.”
can empower women socially as they organize and cooperate together.
Participant, Kenya
It can also empower them economically as they improve their negotiating
abilities to attain better financial compensation and access to markets.

20
An enabling policy environment facilitates access to appropriate
production and processing technologies and market infrastructure.
Cooperatives are important vehicles for the empowerment of
rural women. Through these, women can access enhanced economic
opportunities and transform their agricultural activities into commercial
enterprises, while at the same time minimizing risks.

Overview of concept
The initiative would involve the sharing of information and best Presenting innovations (Thelma Akongo,
practices about farmers’ cooperatives by developing a web portal, or speaking)
building on an existing one, that hosts network members and posts
information on cooperatives. A regional workshop in Africa would be
“There were many innovative
organized to share concrete experiences and good practices on women’s
approaches represented by
and farmers’ cooperatives, including effective institutional
participants that showed
environments, policies, the role of local communities and collection
encouraging evidence that even if
centres. The initiative would focus on empowering rural women
formal systems are gender-biased,
economically and socially through their participation in farmers’
there are promising initiatives.”
cooperatives. Many good examples of such projects exist, such as dairy
Participant, Nigeria
cooperatives in central Kenya, cassava initiatives in Nigeria and economic
stimulus programmes in Kenya. The aim would be to identify models of
cooperatives that are replicable across Africa.

Group 7: Micro-insurance
Background/problem
To a great extent, rural financial programmes have been designed and
implemented with a male head of household as client. For various
reasons, these programmes have ignored the fact that women are
economically active and engaged in productive activities in their own
A small group analyzing the challenges…and
right – whether as women in male-headed households or as female solutions (Joy Bongyereire, centre)
heads of households. Finance programmes have also largely ignored
women’s particular legal, social and economic needs. Microentrepreneurs, especially
women, have no access to protection for their assets in cases of calamity, theft, crop
failure, illness or fire. Micro-insurance products that are designed with smallholders in
mind, and that consider the specific needs of women to enable them to insure against
unexpected shocks, are vital. They support a dynamic, sustainable agricultural sector and
broaden women’s economic opportunities.

Overview of concept
The initiative would create a community of microenterprise ventures across Africa.
Developing micro-insurance products offered by membership organizations would lead
to empowered rural citizens, secured assets and enterprises, sustainable enterprises,
sustainable membership organizations and strong organizations with committed, confident
members. The project would make insurance against losses available to smallholder
women and men farmers for a cost as low as US$1/month. To ensure success, the initiative
would build on cooperative ownership, a common vision and strong leadership.

21
 Participants of the group proposed a feasibility study to develop a
financial plan. Funds for the pilot ventures in two countries would be
needed. Support would come from shareholders and investors and
partnerships with micro-insurance champions. The initiative’s success
would be greatly enhanced if there were an enabling environment of
adequate and relevant legislation; broad sharing of knowledge about
micro-insurance across the continent; and a concerted effort to
address financial constraints, such as start-up costs for women
Delegates in the plenary (Oliver Oliveros, and men farmers.
standing)

22
Recommendations and follow-up

The Salzburg Global Seminar created a unique opportunity for creative “The big job remains for me
alignments and innovations with regard to empowering rural women to go and implement the
in policy and practice. ideas developed and shared
In addition to the many innovations proposed, participants put in Salzburg.”
forward a number of recommendations and follow-up actions to the Participant, Kenya
Dialogue for Action, to foster continued communication and
development of the information shared in the seminar. These include:
• Prepare policy briefs on a number of issues covered by the Dialogue (for example,
partnerships, innovations, the Theory of Change).
• Share the learning from the Dialogue meeting across the African continent,
requesting input and feedback from colleagues and those working ‘in the field’ and
in the fields. To this end, explore the possibility of building further on the
Dialogue outcomes with the Salzburg Fellowship Programme.
• Devise other possibilities for sharing the learning from the Dialogue meeting, such
as GRADE (gender responsive agriculture development and enterprise) events in
Washington, D.C., and similar industry-related events and meetings.
• Explore the possibility of sharing information through a repository, such as
UN Women, IFPRI, or the new genderinag.org website hosted by the World Bank.

As the participant quoted above indicates, the key follow-up will be by the individuals
and institutions that devised new strategies and now need to work on implementation.

23
 List of participants

Makaziwe Mandela, South Africa – Guest Speaker, Non-Executive Chairman,

Nozala Investments Ltd, South Africa
Thelma Akongo, Uganda – National Gender Specialist, Africa Rice Project, NARO
Rahel Amerga, Ethiopia – Gender Advisor, Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency
Mercia Andrews, South Africa – National Director, Trust for Community Outreach
and Education
Agnes Babugura, Uganda – Lecturer, Department of Geography and Environmental
Science, Monash University, South Africa
Lisa Lee Benjamin, USA – Principal of Evo Catalyst
Joy Bongyereire, Uganda – Founder, Biodiversity Conservation for Rural
Development, Kisoro
Kayla Casavant, USA – Social and Environment Initiatives Director, Bioessence
Laboratories, Senegal
Stephanie Clohesy, USA – Co-Facilitator, Design Facilitation; Founder and President,
Clohesy Consulting
Michelle DeFreese, USA – Communications Assistant, International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Center (CIMMYT), El Batan, Mexico
Idrissa Dicko, Burkina Faso – Vice-President for Africa Programmes, The Global
Hunger Project, New York
Mame Diene, Senegal – CEO and Founder, Bioessence Laboratories
Randel Hanson, USA – Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of
Minnesota, Duluth
Maria Hartl, Germany – Technical Adviser on Gender and Social Equity, Policy and
Technical Advisory Division, IFAD
Jeannie Harvey, USA – Gender Advisor, USAID
Catherine Hill, Canada – Rapporteur; freelance writer, researcher, facilitator, planner
Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu, Nigeria – Executive Director, The SmallHolders Foundation
Ally Jamaa, Kenya – News and features writer for The Standard, Kenya
Joan Kabayambi, Uganda – Executive Director and Founder, Hope Again Fistula
Support Organisation
Raymond Kamwe, Rwanda – Monitoring and Evaluation Assistant and Contract
Manager, Watershed Management Project

24
Paula Kantor, USA – Senior Gender and Rural Development Specialist, International
Center for Research on Women
George Kinyanjui, Kenya – General Manager, Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT)
Philip Kiriro, Kenya – Farmer, President, Eastern Africa Farmers Federation
Arisa Kishigami, Japan – Executive, Responsible Investment Unit of FTSE
Joseph Komu, Kenya – Agriculture and Livestock Manager, Southern Nyanza
Community Development Project of IFAD and the Government of Kenya
Olive Luena, the United Republic of Tanzania – CEO, Tanzania Gatsby Trust
Susanna Makombe, Zimbabwe – Managing Director, African Women in
Agriculture (AWIA)
Beatrice Makwenda, Malawi – Policy and Programs Coordinator, National Smallholder
Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM)
Seynabou Male Cissé, Senegal – Coordinator, Comité Régional de Solidarité
des Femmes pour la Paix en Casamance
Lynn McNair, USA (staff) – Vice-President, Philanthropic Partnerships of the SGS,
Washington office
Ruth Meinzen-Dick, USA – Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy
Research Institute (IFPRI)
Tina Micklethwait, Australia (staff) – International Communications Consultant;
Director of Communications, SGS
Maureen Miruka, Kenya – Senior Research Officer and Gender Coordinator,
Socio-economics and Applied Statistics Division, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute
M. Malusi Mpumlwana, South Africa – Co-Facilitator, Content Facilitation; Bishop of
the Northern Diocese of the Ethiopian Episcopal Church; Chair, FoodBank Foundation;
board member, TrustAfrica
Nancy Mugimba, Uganda – Coordinator, The Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale
Farmers’ Forum (ESAFF)
Lorraine Mukuka, Zambia – Provincial Agricultural Information Officer, National
Agricultural Information Services, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Lusaka
Tendai Murisa, Zimbabwe – Coordinator, Agricultural Advocacy Project, TrustAfrica
Charity Muthoni Muya, Kenya – Director, Kenya Women Finance Trust Microfinance
Sithembile Mwamakamba, South Africa – Project Manager, Food, Agriculture and
Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN)
Sheila Mwanundu, Kenya – Senior Technical Adviser for Environment and Natural
Resource Management, Environment and Climate Change Division, IFAD
Everlyne Nairesiae, Kenya – Part-time Technical Staff, Food security and climate change,
GROOTS Kenya
Jemimah Njuki, Kenya – Team Leader, Poverty, Gender and Impact; former Social
Scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

25
 Oliver Oliveros, Philippines – Senior Officer, International Relations and Partnerships,
Agropolis Foundation, France
Raphael Onyeaghala, USA – Interim Dean, College of Business, Education and
Professional Studies, Southwest Minnesota State University
Bolanle Otegbayo, Nigeria – Senior Lecturer, Department of Food Science and
Technology, Bowen University
Yolisa Pakela Jezile, South Africa – Senior Manager, Agricultural Research Council (ARC)
Alessandra Pani, Italy – Focal Point for Communication, Visibility, and
Fundraising, IFAD/BFFS.JP
Karambu Ringera, Kenya – President and Founder, International Peace Initiatives, a
Kenya and USA-based NGO
Rehana Riyawala, India – Coordinator, Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)
Karen Schofield-Leca, USA (staff) – Director, Philanthropic Partnerships, SGS,
Washington, D.C., office
Fatmata Sesay Kebbay, Sierra Leone – Program Specialist, UN Women, New York
Nancy Smith, USA (staff) – Director, Gender and Philanthropy, SGS, Salzburg office
Xenia von Lilien, Germany – Liaison and Public Information Officer, IFAD
Lusike Wasilwa, Kenya – Assistant Director in charge of the Horticulture and Industrial
Crops Division, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI)
Leonard Williams, USA – Interim Director and Associate Professor, Center for
Excellence in Post Harvest Technologies, North Carolina A&T State University
Yuan Peng, China – Professor and Director, Division at the Rural Development
Institute, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Almaz Zewde, USA – Associate Professor, Howard University, Washington, D.C.

Support staff – Austria

Astrid Koblmueller, Austria – Program Manager, SGS
Laura Sutter, USA – Program Intern, SGS
Lizzie Whisman, USA – Program Intern, SGS

26
 APPENDIX I

Theory of Change - verbal

Rights: are implemented and

laws are reformed and enforced in
ways that help to shift norms and Agricultural
upgrade the basic conditions of policies,
women’s lives, including freedom programmes,
from violence and access to incentives
productive resources and essential
services while also opening new
social, economic and political space
for their participation. Rights Financial
Agricultural policies, and
programmes and incentives: that productive
Gender
resources
take account of empirical evidence equality in rural
from community practice to development and
systematically improve rural agriculture
and production
livelihoods, rural and agricultural
infrastructure and services; and
create equal access to economic
opportunities that empower rural
women and strengthen the overall
rural economy.
Women’s Community
Financial and productive voices organizations
resources: are equally accessible and social
to poor, rural women and men structures
and this access multiplies and
enables the scaling up of women’s
entrepreneurial agricultural efforts
(mostly smallholder) and other Manifestly empowered women, socially and economically
income-generating activities. in vibrant rural & agricultural economies
Better community
organizations and social
structures: include and are
responsive to women, help to limit Evolution of Theory of Change Over Time
their vulnerability, and are the
sources of ongoing community
education and influence in De s i g
n
community decision-making.
is
l ys

Women’s voices: are heard,

An a

have influence and are equally

De v e l o p

determinant indecision-making and

direction-setting at the household,
local, national and global levels.
Eva
lu
at

e
nt
Im ple me

27
 APPENDIX II

Theory of Change - visual

Conditions for success Challenges for success

Women and men in Global systems
partnership • Access to markets/market failures
Laws and policies • Policies (especially trade policies),
Gender equity/sustainable
• Rights – Anti-discrimination, development conventions and treaties
economic • Food security/health
• Gender – fair agricultural/rural • Environment/zoological responsibility
policies, programs, incentives • Fragmentation
Women’s
• Specifying responsibility organizations • Global reporting, may not reflect
Women’s voice
• Recognizing agriculture as & power local realities/differentiation
an industry • Informational and
• Policy Dialogue/ technological gaps
implementation Healthy food Access to • Linkage across levels of policies
• Land policies systems Gender sensitivity markets
National issues
• Accessible laws and policies/
• Conflict/Political instability
legal literacy
• Top-down design and
• Access to information Social support Value-added implementation of programmes
• Coherence between state systems products
• Leadership
laws/policies and community
• (Appropriate) Technology
practice/traditional laws
• Lack of synergy between donor
Political environment and national interests
• Political will and support Access to productive resources Public infrastructure • Agricultural development/
• Transparency/accountability Access to investment investment not prioritized
• Strong organizations, • Policy environment/legal frameworks
strong partnerships Land • Civic participation
water/energy
• Affirmative action • Implementation/political will
• Activism Health/well-being Education/ Local practices
• Stable government • ecologically training
• financially
• Tradition/culture and customs
• Female representation • life skills
• socially • research • Resilience
• Civic education/
• physically • Social cohesion/responsibility
participation
• Technology
Physical/natural environment The roots
• Implementing agencies –
• Access to/control of translating policies into practice
productive resources
• Immigration (rural – urban
• Sustainable land The soil movement)
utilization/adaptation Essential nutrients/inputs:
• Culture/gender relations Individual capacity
• Social and physical
infrastructure to reduce • Recognition of women’s role in agriculture • Local market owners/buyers
• Reduce women’s household burdens • Transportation
household and community
responsibility • Mindset/Ingrained belief that
• Family practices/gender “I cannot do it”
awareness/education • Education and training

28
International Fund for Agricultural Development
Via Paolo di Dono, 44 - 00142 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 06 54591 - Fax: +39 06 5043463
E-mail: [email protected]
www.ifad.org
October 2012

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