CGIAR Gender News

Feminist, critical and transformative: NRI food systems research at the Cultivating Equality Conference

Cassava harvesting Photo: CIP

‘How can we make food systems research and action more feminist, critical and transformative?’ This was the central question at a panel session convened by staff from NRI’s Gender and Social Difference Programme at the ‘Cultivating Equality’ International Conference in October 2021, organised by the CGIAR GENDER Platform and Wageningen University & Research.

The conference focussed on research that helps to understand and advance positive synergies among sustainable and resilient agriculture and food systems, and equality in societies globally.

The panel was convened by NRI’s Associate Professor Lora Forsythe, Dr June Po, Dr Fiorella Picchioni and Professor Valerie Nelson, and explored critical feminist approaches in food systems research.

The session facilitated collaborative discussions and aimed to identify potential opportunities for radical and systemic change in food systems, exploring how feminist and gender-transformative approaches could be applied in research to understand the root causes of inequalities. Presentations showcased new research that draws on areas of feminist theory including social reproduction, geographies of care and feminist political ecology, in addition to work focusing on key areas of systemic inequality, in particular gender-based violence.