Achieving Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Smallholder Adaptation: Lessons from IFAD’s Adaptation in Smallholder Agriculture Programme

Abstract

Key messages
In order to achieve outcomes for gender equality and
women’s empowerment in smallholder adaptation
projects, project designers and implementers should:
 Consider differential needs and priorities of
women, so that project activities are designed to
address the context in which women live and to
support the activities they engage in.
 Consider differential vulnerability of women to
climate change.
 Understand that participation does not
necessarily translate into impact.
Interventions need to consider norms, roles and
relations and how these can evolve to promote
gender equality and women’s empowerment in
programs; and consult with women in the
development and implementation of project
activities.
 Invest in staff capacity to implement gender
action plans and mainstream gender in program
activities.
 Build the capacity of local institutions to
support commitments to gender equality and
women’s empowerment. This brief summarizes findings from the “Adaptation
in Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP)
gender assessment and learning review” undertaken
by consultants Catherine Hill and Greg Scarborough
and technical staff from CARE. This gender
assessment and learning review focused on eight
projects co-funded by ASAP in Bangladesh,
Cambodia, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda,
Uganda, and Vietnam. The assessment and
learning review provides lessons learned after three
years of ASAP operation. The purpose of this study
was to understand how the translation from design
to implementation is happening in practice, and to
generate insights and lessons from some of the
ASAP-supported projects on the different barriers,
opportunities, and experiences regarding gendermainstreaming
and women’s empowerment.