Hello #foodstudies20 Conference! I’m pleased to share the highlights of our research: “What do the gender-sensitive guidelines say and advise for the development of agro-value chains? Evidence from a systematic review”. 1/19
This is the result of a joint work with @labuenaempresa, student at @cafnr & @jhonjjhb, colleague of @BiovIntCIAT_esp. Keywords: #ValueChain, #Gender, #Agriculture, #Agribusiness, #SystematicReview. #foodstudies20 2/19
We are a Colombian multidisciplinary team with a common interest on value chains, inclusive business models, gender and agriculture in Latin America. #foodstudies20 3/19
We noticed numerous gender-sensitive guidelines that are 1) oriented to practitioners working on development agricultural projects, and 2) with a special focus on value chains and agribusiness. #foodstudies20 4/19
With these guidelines speaking directly to practitioners we wonder: What does these guidelines say to the practitioners? What are their logics and core contents? To adress these questions, we used a content analysis. #foodstudies20 5/19
A previous work analysing these guides was developed by Stoian et al. (2018) (see here tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…). They analyzed 8 guides, all in English. #foodstudies20 6/19
Departing from this research, our work analyzes 18 methodological guides published by international organizations for the development of value chains and inclusive trade relationships with a gender perspective. #foodstudies20 7/19
We included publications in English and Spanish, with potential application in Latin America. #foodstudies20 8/19
What did we do? A review of the logic, contents, topics, proposed methodological frames, and main variables included in their toolkit. #foodstudies 9/19
Below we summarize main characteristics of these guides:
In these guides, gender is portrayed as a social construct linked to men and women. There isn’t a wider sight acknowledging other identities on this respect. #foodstudies20 10/19
In these guides, gender is portrayed as a social construct linked to men and women. There isn’t a wider sight acknowledging other identities on this respect. #foodstudies20 10/19
Guides mention three reasons to promote gender inclusion: it has a positive effect on economies, it busts businesses, and contributes to social justice. Being the social justice argument the minor of them. #foodstudies20 11/19
The preponderance of economic arguments overshadows the recognition of the fundamental rights of women, leading to the issue of gender being perceived as a “complement”, a business option or an imposed requirement for access to new and more-valued markets. #foodstudies20 12/19
We found that social justice related arguments are less common. These tend to drive the discussions into universal moral principles and human rights, ... #foodstudies20 13/19
(cont) the obtention of benefits from interventions focused on development and equal opportunities generation for women and men. #foodstudies20 14/19
Women and men are implicitely presented as homogeneous groups, generally talking of young women at a productive age. #foodstudies20 15/19
This shows us the need to advance in views that recongnize heterogeneity (ethnicity, age, other gender identities). #foodstudies20 16/19
These guides propose to study gender taking into account the resources and assets in disposal and in property of women and men (through 50 indicators), the activites carried out by women and men (33 indicators), ... #foodstudies20 17/19
(cont) the sociocultural environment in which people act (27 indicators), and the decision capacity and management over income perceived by women and men (27 indicators). #foodstudies20 18/19
To develop a broader understanding of the notions presented in these guides, its implications for action and to what extent practitioners embrace or challenge them in their actions is a task yet unaccomplished. Thanks for reading 😊 #foodstudies20 19/19
