Improving the documentation and classification of gender-research tools: insights from eight thematic reviews: CGIAR Gender Equality and Inclusion Working Paper #031

Abstract

This synthesis paper analyses the landscape of gender-research tools and methods in agrifood systems by bringing together insights from eight thematic reviews developed under the CGIAR Gender Equality and Inclusion (GENDER Accelerator). The analysis highlights the wide range of tools and methods available for gender research in agrifood systems, while also identifying gaps in documentation, classification and dissemination. Drawing on lessons from the synthesis process, as well as a review of metadata best practices, this work underscores the need for clearer terminology, harmonized metadata and more consistent approaches to organizing gender-research tools. It also highlights the importance of adopting standard tagging practices and improving metadata quality and completeness to strengthen the visibility, interoperability and reuse of gender research resources across repositories and platforms. The paper discusses the challenges encountered in curating and categorizing diverse resources and emphasizes the importance of collaboration between researchers and knowledge management specialists to improve discoverability and reuse. The paper concludes with recommendations to strengthen future tool development, tagging and documentation practices to support more coherent, visible and methodologically robust gender research.