Roughly half of the world’s smallholder farmers are women, and women and girls make up 60-80% of the entire labor force in food processing and agri-food systems.
Despite this, women, and other marginalized groups, face barriers in accessing knowledge, technologies, and support services that could improve their livelihoods. This creates systemic gaps that lead to lower productivity and reduced economic benefits.
IRRI catalyzes people-centered initiatives that reduce the drudgery of farming and increase access to knowledge and services to improve marginalized farmers and laborer’s effectiveness.
We encourage local, women-centric education hubs; we advocate for crop diversification practices that expand nutrition and income sources for smallholder families; and we work with women’s groups and cooperatives to promote seed entrepreneurship and mechanization. We also collaborate with national and local partners to enhance digital access to agricultural and social services like crop insurance, enabling greater adoption by women and youth.
By developing tailored, context-specific solutions for local challenges, we create greater impact at scale.
Related Projects
Project 1
Projects
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Agricultural Investment Options for Improved Income, Food Security and Environment (PIM 1.1)
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Assessing Institutional Innovations to Promote Women-Led Informal Seed Systems in Eastern India (PIM)
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CGIAR-wide Gender and Agriculture Landmark Publication (PIM 6.2)
Related News
Project 2
Projects
- CGIAR Research Program 7: Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Phase II
- CGIAR: Big Data in Agriculture
- Gender-sensitive CSA Options Trialed and Tested in CSVs, and Business Case Development for Scaling (CCAFS 2017-2021)
- GHG Mitigation in Rice: From Evidence-based Concepts to Adoption at Scale (CCAFS)
- Strengthening Capacity in South Asia for Scaling-up Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies, Practices and Services (CCAFS)
External References
Project 3
Projects
- Educating the next generation of rice scientists. Never an Empty Bowl: Securing Asia’s Food Security. The Lee Foundation Rice Scholarship Program (funded by Lee Foundation)
- The Best Young Minds for Food Security. Securing the Global Rice Supply by Building and New Generation of Rice Scientists (funded by Lee Foundation)
Related News
Project 4
Projects
- CAAS-IRRI Joint Laboratory on Genomics-Assisted Germplasm Development Training Program for Chinese Young Scientists
- Enhancing Photosynthesis in Rice (C4 Rice Joint Laboratory)
- G2P: Supporting Collaborative Projects in China
- CAAS-IRRI High-level Exchange Program
