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Soumis par Olufolakemi Anjorin le lun, 26/06/2017 - 21:39 Permalien
I completely agree with the idea of action research especially using participatory approach. More important is being able to incorporate learning from such research to further develop the intervention programme. A successful programme will take feedback from beneficiaries.
Soumis par Olufolakemi Anjorin le lun, 26/06/2017 - 21:27 Permalien
Increased Inclusivity, Sustainability, and Nutrition were identified as enabler in the Feed Africa Strategy. To fully maximize the potential of these enablers, it is important to scale-up successful program in the area of nutrition, especially with a focus on women nutrition. In addition to a comprehensive nutrition that focuses on women and children, it is important to also increase market access. From my perspective and maybe this is based on where I stand and my experience in working with rural women, Africa’s problem is not so much of not producing enough, it is rather not making sufficient financial returns from what is produced. I work with a group of women farmers who produce vegetables (fluted pumpkins to be specific), we have explored options to increase market, but the challenges are similar to the whole story of poor post-harvest management system. Poor cold chain system, high cost of transportation, poor infrastructure to access farm (poor road) and others remain challenging. To feed Africa on a sustainable basis and with nutritious food options a focus on nutrition security and not just food production is key.
Gender Informed Nutrition and Agriculture (GINA) Alliance piloted in Uganda, Mozambique and Nigeria will be a good example of successful initiative to scale-up.
Soumis par Olufolakemi Anjorin le sam, 24/06/2017 - 14:54 Permalien
Cultural norms and power relations are at the root of gender gap in agriculture productivity. Agriculture research can play active role in bridging the gender gap through engagement in systematic reviews that pools together existing evidence of gender gaps. Findings from such reviews can help to articulate the categories of factors that limit women productivity in agriculture, especially for women in subsistence agriculture. The realities in agricultural practice are different for men and women. It is difficult for women to participate in most agriculture leadership forum and discussions due to the need to meet-up with other roles and domestic obligations. Even when women do participate, often times it is with minimal level of influence. The implication is that the challenges faced by women are often not captured, or at least not effectively.
There is a strong need for research that are focused on qualitative parameters and that offer more in-depth analysis of gender situations that exist in farming communities (for instance ethnographic studies). Several intervention programs attempt to mainstream gender considerations into project that seek to improve agriculture productivity. The challenge is that, the best and most successful models are often not sustainable in the long-term. Often because most of the interventions may not take into account baseline considerations that can inform the design of customized intervention approaches. The reality is that cultural walls are difficult to penetrate and sudden breaking down of cultural walls is also counterproductive. The most lasting solutions to a culture reform is thus to create a crack in existing norms by offering alternatives that have clear benefits over existing practices. This is what I like to call “re-engineering culture and power relations “.
Feed Africa strategy can help reduce gender gap in agriculture productivity through active and deliberate engagement of women and youth in the commodity value chain. Investing in technologies that reduce drudgery in agricultural production and processing along the value chain. A focus on postharvest technologies will also improve market value of agricultural produce by reducing glut and expanding market potentials.
Investing in technologies that reduce drudgery is key
Soumis par Olufolakemi Anjorin le lun, 10/07/2017 - 02:57 Permalien
Reducing drudgery will definitely promote increased women participation in value chain development. I like the example of soybean which happens to be my Bachelor’s degree thesis research in year 2004/5. We used hydrothermal pretreatment to enhance split de-hulling of soybeans such that minimal wastage is experienced. Despite the high nutrition profile of a product like soybean, lack of technology that removes laborious processing techniques limits the value addition.