Climate change poses a significant challenge to farmers worldwide. It affects men and women differently due to their diverse roles, responsibilities, resource access and sociocultural norms. Understanding the gender perspective would help policymakers to develop evidence-based strategies that address unique vulnerabilities, promoting equitable, inclusive adaptation and resilience policies to climate risk. Hence there is a need to evaluate the available evidence base on gendered perspectives in this domain to design effective adaptation policies as well as future research.

In the context of agricultural research and development (AR&D) in the global South, there is a growing recognition of the role of women farmers and the relevance of targeting them. The level of women’s participation in agricultural activities is influenced by factors such as male outmigration from the agricultural sector, and prevailing social norms. This participation varies both temporally and spatially, thereby influencing the strategies for targeted technology development and dissemination.

IFPRI is participating in the 2023 annual CGIAR Gender Research Conference. This conference is co-hosted by the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and will take place in New Delhi, India, on October 9-12, 2023.
Presentation titles:
Gender-responsive nature positive solutions for resilient agri-food systems
Women’s Empowerment, Productivity, and Food Security: Nationally Representative Panel Data Analysis in Malawi

Sub-Saharan Africa is facing an expected doubling of human population and tripling of food demand over the next quarter century, posing a range of severe environmental, political, and socio-economic challenges. In some cases, key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are in direct conflict, raising difficult policy and funding decisions, particularly in relation to trade-offs between food production, social inequality, and ecosystem health.

Whether it is climate, conflict, or COVID-19, inequality is a key component of any crisis as it can reveal why some people and regions are disproportionately impacted over others. While climate impacts interacting with inequalities can exacerbate existing drivers of insecurity, it can also leave room for institutions and interventions to foster cooperation and build resilience and peace.

Although seed is an integral part of the agri-food system, it is often unavailable and unaffordable to smallholder farmers in rural areas, especially women and vulnerable groups. In addition, the poor extension system of getting seeds and information to farmers remains a drawback to adoption and increased productivity. Further, increased climate variability exposes these vulnerable groups to risks like pests and diseases. This calls for more concerted and focused strategies by researchers and development actors to mitigate these challenges through robust partnerships and training.

This report provides a comprehensive statistical overview of agricultural household data collected by IFPRI from a smallholder commercialization survey in late 2022. Sampled to be representative to the provincial level, ten households were surveyed in 202 villages for a total of 2,020 households interviewed. The survey covers a wide range of topics including household demographics, agricultural farm holdings, input use, crop choice, levels of commercialization and other non-farm sources of income.

Dietary diversity is an established public health principle, and its measurement is essential for studies of diet quality and food security. However, conventional between food group scores fail to capture the nutritional variability and ecosystem services delivered by dietary richness and dissimilarity within food groups, or the relative distribution (i.e., evenness or moderation) of e.g., species or varieties across whole diets. Summarizing food biodiversity in an all-encompassing index is problematic.

The National ICT4Ag+ Event in Indonesia is a complementary activity to the global ICTforAg 2023 scheduled on November 7-9, 2023. It provided an inclusive opportunity for local participants to engage with their peers in the vibrant local digital ecosystem and connect with the global community. The CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Badan Standardisasi Instrumen Pertanian (BSIP) of Indonesia co-organized the National ICT4Ag Event on 9 October 2023 at the BSIP Headquaters in Jakarta.

The international research conference “From research to impact: Towards just
and resilient agri-food systems” will address the gender and social inequalities
that lie at the heart of food systems. The conference aims to promote the sharing
of cutting-edge knowledge on gender and inclusion in agri-food systems to
help bridge the gap between research and practice and foster gender-equal and
socially inclusive, resilient food systems.
This conference will catalyze scientific exchanges and dialogues among

Peatlands cover only 3–4% of the Earth’s surface, but they store nearly 30% of global soil carbon stock. This significant carbon store is under threat as peatlands continue to be degraded at alarming rates around the world. It has prompted countries worldwide to establish regulations to conserve and reduce emissions from this carbon rich ecosystem. For example, the EU has implemented new rules that mandate sustainable management of peatlands, critical to reaching the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.