Gender mainstreaming in agribusiness partnerships: Insights from 2SCALE
This paper (PDF) by IFDC shares 2SCALE ‘s approach to gender mainstreaming, highlights case studies, and outlines lessons learned. Since its inception in 2012, 2SCALE has made significant progress in getting the whole program team to mainstream gender in their activities, for example through capacity building of women; interventions to promote labor-saving technologies; fostering women’s entrepreneurship and working with successful female entrepreneurs; and strategies to improve women’s inclusion in farmer-based organizations. However, there are still gaps and possible improvements to be made. These include the need for more systematic and detailed reporting on achievements and challenges regarding the integration of women into the clusters and value chains to draw additional lessons and improve further. Based on experience with private partners, 2SCALE also aims to make gender- and youth-related targets a non-negotiable condition for program support at the onset, not implicit/secondary or negotiated. Targeting smallholder farmers and SMEs is not enough; there must be an ambitious and explicit target for women and youth integration in every partnership. Moreover, building on the gender approach and tools, 2SCALE intends to develop similar methodology and materials for youth, aligned with the specificities of young farmers and rural entrepreneurs. Last, as any program has staff turnover, training and coaching of the field team must be continuous.