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Involving women in research for economic growth through agricultural technologies and practices: ICRISAT’s initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa

OAR@ICRISAT

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/7694/
http://www.jle.com/en/revues/agro_biotech/sec/sommaire.phtml
 
Title Involving women in research for economic growth through agricultural technologies and practices: ICRISAT’s initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa
 
Creator Ajeigbe, H A
Goodrich, C G
Ntare, B R
Weltzien, E
Ndjeunga, J
 
Subject Agriculture-Farming, Production, Technology, Economics
 
Description Although both men and women play substantial economic roles in the semi-arid
tropics of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), in general women’s preponderant role in
agricultural activities in the region cannot be ignored. Cultural norms in the
region have long encouraged women to be economically self-reliant and
traditionally give women substantial responsibility for agricultural production in
their own right. Women in the region have relatively high overall labour-force
participation rates and the highest average agricultural labour-force participation
rates in the world. Thus, women farmers in the region, irrespective of their
ethnic group, substantially contribute to national agricultural production and food
security as they are primarily responsible for food crops – food production as well
as processing. As an agricultural research institute ICRISAT’s initiatives and
programs are technology based; and as gender empowerment is high on ICRISAT’s
agenda, most if not all of its projects and programs aim at addressing women
with new technologies and knowledge to reach higher agricultural outputs. These,
combined with other income generating activities are implemented with an aim to
increase women’s income and thus their autonomy and status. In this paper we
have taken some major ICRISAT initiatives in some countries of Western Central
Africa (Mali, Niger and Nigeria) to look in to the implications for economic
growth – for women and their families. Three major initiatives led by ICRISAT
are reported here: the Groundnut seed project (2003-2007), Tropical Legumes II in
first phase (2008-2010), and the Harnessing Opportunities for Productivity
Enhancement (HOPE) of Sorghum and Millets in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
(2009-2012). All these projects have specific activities targeting women and
involve technology and crop/seed management practices that were intentionally
women-centric with the aim of enhancing women’s capacities and skills in the
traditional tasks that they were responsible for, viz. cultivation of crops and seed
production.
Key words :
 
Publisher John Libbey Eurotext
 
Date 2013
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights —
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/7694/1/Secheresse_2013_24_259-366.pdf
Ajeigbe, H A and Goodrich, C G and Ntare, B R and Weltzien, E and Ndjeunga, J (2013) Involving women in research for economic growth through agricultural technologies and practices: ICRISAT’s initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa. Secheresse, 24. pp. 359-366. ISSN 1147-7806