CGIAR Gender Accelerator: Agri-Food Systems Research Impact 2025 Initiatives

Empowering Women in Farming Globally

By Darius Spearman (africanelements)

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Unlocking Potential: Gender Equality in Agriculture

Imagine a world where everyone has enough food, poverty is shrinking, and our planet is healthier. That’s the vision driving CGIAR, the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers. It’s a global team working hard on food security, poverty reduction, and managing resources sustainably (The Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers). With 15 research centers and countless partners, CGIAR tackles big challenges like climate change and finding better ways to grow food. They manage over $900 million yearly to make this happen (The Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers; CGIAR – Wikipedia).

A huge piece of this puzzle involves recognizing the power of women in agriculture. Right now, there’s a significant gap between what women farmers achieve and what men farmers achieve, often due to unequal access to resources. Closing this gap isn’t just fair; it’s smart economics. Doing so could boost the global economy by nearly $1 trillion (Investing in Women is the Key to Resilient Food Systems). Think about that – unlocking potential that benefits everyone. Furthermore, failing to invest properly in women’s skills costs the global economy a staggering $10 trillion every year (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion). Climate change adds another layer, with women-led households losing $53 billion annually due to climate-related inequalities (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion). Empowering women farmers, therefore, creates ripples, improving child nutrition, education, and health while promoting sustainable farming (Investing in Women is the Key to Resilient Food Systems).

CGIAR’s 2025 Plan: Driving Gender-Responsive Food Systems

Recognizing this urgency, CGIAR is launching a major initiative called the Gender Equality and Inclusion Accelerator in April 2025. This Accelerator is a core part of their 2025–2030 Research Portfolio (Investing in Women is the Key to Resilient Food Systems). Its main goal is clear: drive real, fair outcomes for women and build stronger, more resilient food systems for everyone. This isn’t just a side project; it’s about weaving gender equality into the fabric of everything CGIAR does.

The plan is to embed gender considerations across CGIAR’s big research areas, known as megaprograms. These include critical fields like ‘Breeding for Tomorrow’ (developing better crops and animals) and ‘Sustainable Animal and Aquatic Foods’ (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion). While the exact structure of the “Accelerator” isn’t fully detailed in the available public information, CGIAR already has strong platforms like the Collaborative Platform for Gender Research. These existing efforts focus on creating fair research methods and pushing for policies that help women and marginalized groups (A gender focus for agricultural research can benefit the … – CGIAR; Gender equality, youth & social inclusion – CGIAR). Importantly, the Accelerator aims to unlock $16 million specifically for gender-responsive research, although the sources confirm CGIAR member contributions fund gender work generally, without detailing this specific figure’s allocation (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion; CGIAR – Wikipedia).

Research in Action: CGIAR Gender Research Initiatives

So, what does “gender-responsive research” actually look like on the ground? It means designing research that actively tackles the specific challenges women face in agriculture – things like less access to land, credit, information, or decision-making power (A gender focus for agricultural research can benefit the … – CGIAR; Gender equality, youth & social inclusion – CGIAR). It’s not just about counting women; it’s about changing the system to work better for them. For instance, CGIAR research in Ethiopia looked at maize farming. By tailoring tools and support to women’s needs, they helped increase women’s access to credit and markets. The result? Women-led households boosted their maize productivity by a remarkable 40% (Investing in Women is the Key to Resilient Food Systems; Gender Equality and Social Inclusion).

Other methods include directly involving women in the research process. In Mali, women participated in selecting sorghum varieties, ensuring the chosen crops met their needs and preferences (A gender focus for agricultural research can benefit the … – CGIAR). This kind of work will be central to the new Accelerator, feeding into major research areas like ‘Breeding for Tomorrow’, which develops climate-resilient crops and animals, and ‘Sustainable Animal and Aquatic Foods’, focused on making livestock and fish farming more productive and eco-friendly (CGIAR – Wikipedia; Perspectives of the CGIAR Consortium of International Agricultural … – UPOV). Furthermore, events like the GENDER Science Exchange in October 2024 help shape this research agenda, bringing together experts to focus on themes like financial inclusion and digital tools for women (GENDER Science Exchange 2024). This entire effort relies heavily on CGIAR’s extensive global network of over 100 gender researchers across 14 centers (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion).

Seeds of Change: Women in Farming Success Story

Real-world examples show the power of investing in women entrepreneurs in agriculture. Take Mirriam Nalomba and her company, ShaisFoods Ltd., in Zambia. Her business is a prime example of a gender-responsive agribusiness model (CGIAR Food Systems Accelerator Entrepreneur Spotlight). ShaisFoods not only helps improve incomes and financial independence for the women involved but also works to address local nutritional needs. This is exactly the kind of enterprise that can transform communities from the ground up.

Businesses like ShaisFoods receive crucial support from CGIAR initiatives. Specifically, the CGIAR Initiative on Diversification in East and Southern Africa provides science-based technical help and works to build inclusive value chains, ensuring women benefit fairly (CGIAR Food Systems Accelerator Entrepreneur Spotlight). *It’s important to note that while the initiative supporting ShaisFoods is mentioned, details about “Ukama Ustawi” itself are not provided in the available CGIAR documentation.* Nevertheless, stories like Mirriam’s resonate deeply within the African Diaspora, where Black women’s entrepreneurship has always been a cornerstone of community resilience and economic progress. Supporting such ventures globally reinforces pathways to empowerment familiar within our own communities.

Wider Impact: Policy, Partnerships & Systemic Change

Achieving lasting change requires more than just individual projects; it demands tackling the underlying systems that create inequality. CGIAR emphasizes the need for collaboration between many different actors – governments, researchers, businesses, and community groups – to address these deep-rooted issues (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion). A key part of this is advocating for policies that deliberately integrate gender equality. This means ensuring women’s needs and rights are considered in climate action plans, biodiversity management, and the way food value chains are structured.

Partnerships are essential to make sure successful innovations actually reach the people who need them and can be scaled up. Collaborating with governments, NGOs, and the private sector is critical (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion). While the provided CGIAR sources don’t mention “ecocide-linked palm oil permits,” the example cited from an external source about advocacy in Indonesia to protect Indigenous forests highlights the type of multi-stakeholder action needed to link environmental protection with rights (Biodiversity and Forest Protection). Furthermore, these global struggles for land rights, fair access to resources, and protection from environmental harm mirror the systemic inequalities often faced by African American communities, particularly farmers grappling with historical discrimination and land access issues (Gender equality, youth & social inclusion – CGIAR). CGIAR’s focus is global gender equity, and the provided data doesn’t specifically address African American farmers or US policies like the Farm Bill, but the underlying principles of fighting for equity in access and against climate vulnerability are universally relevant (A gender focus for agricultural research can benefit the … – CGIAR; Gender equality, youth & social inclusion – CGIAR).

The launch of the CGIAR Gender Equality and Inclusion Accelerator in 2025 marks a significant step forward. By embedding gender equality across its research and partnerships, CGIAR aims to unlock vast potential, not just for women, but for creating more resilient, equitable, and sustainable food systems worldwide. For communities across the African Diaspora, these efforts represent a shared struggle and a shared hope for a future where everyone, especially women who are often the backbone of agriculture, can thrive.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Darius Spearman is a professor of Black Studies at San Diego City College, where he has been teaching since 2007. He is the author of several books, including Between The Color Lines: A History of African Americans on the California Frontier Through 1890. You can visit Darius online at africanelements.org.