ICARDA champions gender responsive agriculture at Masar al' An
ICARDA took part in the recent Masar Al’an (The Way Forward Now) event, organized by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), and TRAGSA under the Masar Al’an program and in collaboration with Casa Árabe and Casa Mediterráneo. The event showcased research and field experience on gender equity in agriculture and rural development, bringing together practitioners and decision makers from across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Within this context, ICARDA shared evidence on how social and economic inequalities continue to influence agricultural outcomes.
Dr. Dina Najjar, ICARDA Senior Gender Scientist, delivered a keynote highlighting how closing gender gaps can improve livelihoods and strengthen agricultural systems in dry and vulnerable areas. She explained that agroecological practices have been shown to enhance resilience, nutrition, and incomes across the MENA region, and that women are often more likely than men to adopt these practices – supported by an ICARDA study involving 923 farmers. However, Najjar noted that women frequently lack the authority to make farming decisions and that agroecological practices can also increase women’s workload if barriers are not addressed.