Gender Equity

CNFA Europe recognizes the relationship between increasing women’s empowerment in the agricultural sector and achieving positive outcomes in agricultural productivity, economic growth, and nutrition, particularly in light of a growing population and increased food demands.  Our gender-centred approach to agricultural development identifies gender-related constraints in the value chains and geographic areas in which we work, and to design programme interventions that directly address those constraints.  Using a range of tools such as gender assessments, baseline data for the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), and participatory discussions with male and female stakeholders, CNFA Europe builds programmes around measurable targets for increasing women’s participation in and benefits from the agricultural sector.

We integrate both men and women in developing solutions to address the root causes of women’s disempowerment in agriculture.  This inclusivity helps garner support for women’s participation and leadership in project activities; increases understanding of the positive household impacts of increasing women’s empowerment; and helps women retain control over income they earn as a result of project activities.

Managing programme implementation to optimize gender-focused results not only involves disaggregation of monitoring and evaluation data to ensure women are participating and benefitting from programme activities on an appropriate level relative to men, but also depends on gender issue-specific indicators that measure changes in women’s empowerment in the agricultural sector.  CNFA Europe programmes are geared towards transformative changes for women from Day 1 of programme implementation.