Webinar: What Works in Gender-Transformative Innovation Bundling? Evidence from Two Learning Labs in Ethiopia

Since 2020, the vegetable sector in Ethiopia has been a testing ground for integrated approaches that link productivity, inclusion, nutrition, and sustainability. Through the Veggies 4 Planet & People (V4P&P) project, World Vegetable Center and SNV worked to strengthen women’s and youth participation in vegetable value chains by combining regenerative agriculture, market linkages, business development, and capacity building. The project targeted three interlinked outcomes: improved incomes and job creation, enhanced food and nutrition security through local vegetable production and consumption, and better environmental and human health through safer production practices.

Building on this foundation, the CGIAR Gender Equality Initiative, known as HER+, partnered with World Veg Center, SNV and Green Agro Solution PLC (through the Lersha platform) to co-design and embed gender-transformative socio-technical innovation bundles (GT-STIBs) within V4P&P. The aim was to move beyond stand-alone technologies and deliberately integrate technical, social, and institutional innovations that reinforce each other and address deeply rooted gendered constraints.

GT-STIBs were piloted in Welmera and Ejere woredas in the Oromia region, which served as HER+ learning labs. These learning labs created a participatory space where farmers, implementers, and researchers jointly diagnosed challenges, tested bundled solutions, and generated evidence on empowerment, resilience, and nutrition outcomes. Early results show that when regenerative practices, gender-responsive and nutrition-sensitive training, digital advisory and market services, and indigenous knowledge are intentionally bundled, adoption increases and impacts deepen.

This webinar is designed to share that evidence, reflect on what worked and why, and discuss what it means for future research and scaling efforts on bundling.