ICRISAT Happenings (30 May 2014)

ICRISAT

Happenings In-house Newsletter

30 May 2014 No. 1625

Stills from the film “A Day in the Life...” screened at the ICRISAT Gender Forum launch. Yadamma (inset) leading a self-help group meeting. The Forum seeks to move away from the current ‘Women in Development’ approach and focus on the inequitable power relation between genders.

Gender Forum launched at ICRISAT

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s part of ICRISAT’s commitment towards integrating a gender transformative approach in agricultural research, the ICRISAT Gender Forum was launched. The Forum seeks to integrate gender in agricultural research leading to more effective development outcomes and impacts. The Forum would focus on understanding how gendered power relations result in inclusion or exclusion and move from a ‘Women in Development’ approach to a “Gender and Development’ approach and finally to a transformative approach which involves refocussing on power relations that sustain inequity. ICRISAT is celebrating 2014 as ICRISAT’s Year of Gender. In his message, ICRISAT Director General Dr William D Dar stressed on the critical need to

make agricultural practices and research more gender inclusive for more equitable distribution of benefits (from agriculture) among marginalized groups such as women agriculturalists and smallholder farmers. Citing the example of SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association) and drawing cues from their work, Dr Dar mentioned how rural women have today become “the face and focus of our work at ICRISAT as changing migration and employment trends have diminished differences among categorizations of smallholder farmers and women involved in agriculture”. He further elaborated on the emerging role of women as ‘community change agents’, and women centric programs as conduits for effective change towards equitable power and gender relations. to page 2 ...4