GenderUp: A gender-responsive method to scale

Why is the method important?

GenderUp supports project and research teams to scale agricultural innovations in a gender-responsible way.

GenderUp guides teams to:

• Identify gender and other relevant diversity among innovation users for more successful and inclusive scaling of agricultural innovations.
• Improve their scaling strategy by anticipating unintended negative consequences for different groups in society.

Who is the method for?

The method can be used by anyone committed to making agricultural innovations available to a diverse group of users. Facilitators who want to take their project teams toward a more equal distribution of innovation benefits across different social groups can benefit from GenderUp.

How can I use the tool?

GenderUp takes you and your team through four different stages: defining the innovation and scaling ambition, exploring relevant dimensions of diversity, understanding implications of intersectionality and finally mitigating consequences and embracing opportunities.

You need resources, such as time, and a willingness to think thoughtfully about scaling strategies, team members (three to six members) from different relevant fields, such as gender and technical experts,  and facilitation skills (GenderUp is facilitated by a facilitator).

GenderUp may be used independently or together with Scaling Readiness, a method that guides teams toward successful scaling strategies.

How was it developed?

The team that developed GenderUp was led by Cees Leeuwis (Wageningen University) and Anne Rietveld (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT) and further consisted of Erin Mcguire (UCDavis), Bela Teeken (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture ) and Vanya Slavchevska (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT).

The development of GenderUp was funded by the CGIAR Research Programme on Roots Tubers and Bananas (RTB) and also benefited from the Senior Expert Programme funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

Where can I get the tool? Who can I contact?

Learn more via GenderUp or contact genderupscaling[at]gmail.com.