Programs designed to enhance smallholder productivity must go beyond a focus on technical agricultural issues to address the underlying gender-related norms, priorities and constraints that may prevent women farmers from reaching their full potential. This technical brief highlights promising approaches in reaching women based on the experiences of two projects working with farmers in Mbeya, Tanzania: TechnoServe's Coffee Initiative and Faida Mali's Soil Health Project.

Jennifer McCleary-Sills, Sophie Namy, Joyce Nyoni, Datius Rweyemamu, Adrophina Salvatory, Ester Steven

2013

Women and girls between the ages of 15-24 are the population most vulnerable to HIV – double the infection rates among young men. The International Center for Research on Women, as a member of the HIV/AIDS research & advocacy consortium, STRIVE, is working to find solutions that will bring down HIV infection rates among women – and especially young women and adolescent girls who are worst-affected.

This infographic was created by our GOODMaker Challenge winner, Deirdre Mahon.

Nanda Priya, Gautam Abhishek, Verma Ravi 2012

Introduction

Agriculture is a critical driver of economic growth in Kenya, contributing nearly a fourth of the country’s gross domestic product and employing close to eighty percent of the rural population. Recognizing the importance of this sector, the Government of Kenya and development organizations have made commitments to improve agricultural productivity through policy, legal and regulatory reforms laid out in the government’s Agricultural Sector Development Strategy.

Understanding and Addressing Gender Barriers

Jennifer McCleary-Sills, Allison McGonagle, Anju Malhotra 2012

On a recent visit to Rwanda, my ICRW colleague Amy Gregowski and I had the opportunity to meet members of the Rwanda Women's Network (RWN) and learn about their effort to support survivors of the 1994 genocide. We're working with the RWN as part of a partnership with the Gender-Based Violence Prevention Network, which is comprised of more than 200 organizations committed to preventing violence in the Horn, East and Southern Africa.

The RWN members greeted us with dance and joyful singing when we arrived at "Village of Hope," a support

Women farmers in Kenya are hungry for innovative, concrete business ideas. They need more access to credit, training, technical assistance and resources such as fertilizer and seeds. And they're eager to learn practical ways to invest their savings.

That's just some of what experts from the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) heard from Kenyan women farmers, the organizations that work with them and local technical experts during a recent visit to Nairobi. ICRW aimed to learn from women