You are invited to submit an abstract for a case study of plant or animal breeding that has successfully incorporated gender considerations into its strategies and end products, demonstrating attention to contrasting needs and preferences of men and women end users (producers or consumers) by May 15, 2016.
A small number of case study authors will be invited to present their study at the upcoming workshop ‘Gender, Breeding and Genomics‘ that will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from October 18- 21, 2016. Travel and accommodation expenses for the authors of selected case studies will be covered by the workshop organizers. Authors of other cases of interest to the workshop may be contacted with respect to inclusion of the case in a book-length or journal publication and/or presentation of a poster at the workshop, which is organized by the CGIAR Gender and Agriculture Research Network’s Gender and Breeding working group.
The workshop aims to identify the essential, ‘must have’ ingredients of successful, gender- responsive breeding initiatives and to explore implications of the revolution in genomics for new opportunities and entry points in the breeding research cycle for effective integration of gender.
Gender responsive root, tuber and banana breeding
There have been many cases in which improved crop varieties released by national agricultural research and extension systems were poorly received by farmers because they lacked the flavor or another trait that farmers or consumers wanted. To ensure high adoption rates for the varieties they develop, breeding programs usually survey farmers about the traits they prefer, but all too often, those researchers rely disproportionately on the opinions of men. However, specialization of household roles means that women and men have different knowledge about and preferences for varietal traits. Women are usually responsible for food preparation and small scale processing, but their knowledge is rarely used for the varietal development process.
As The CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) works to unlock the genetic potential of roots, tubers and bananas for improving food security, nutrition and incomes, it is also supporting field research to document gender-disaggregated trait preferences. The aim is to ensure that the improved RTB crop varieties developed in the coming years will have as widespread and gender-equitable an impact as possible.
Read more about RTB’s work to incorporate women’s needs and preferences into root, tuber and banana breeding.
For more information about the upcoming workshop and how to submit a case study, please visit the Gender Network website.
