The IFAD/FAO Grant
for
Regional Gender Capacity and Knowledge
Overview of
Grant-supported activities
Between 2009 and 2011, this joint initiative of IFAD and FAO supported 34 regional activities and a
global programme of knowledge management work to strengthen regional capacity and analysis on
gender and rural livelihoods in IFAD and its partners, including FAO, and supported projects. The
programme was supported by a $1.5 million IFAD grant, with FAO providing overall coordination,
management and technical support. The Grant supported sharing and networking between peers
and projects, including visits and workshops, and funded specialist training, consultancy and
research. This document provides an overview of the different activities supported under the grant
(see full list at the end of this document). The results and impact are described in the final
evaluation report.
Exchange visits
Study tours and exchange visits can facilitate horizontal
learning and networking between a range of people
working on rural development at different levels. This
is particularly useful for people to see how others have
undertaken to promote gender equality and women’s
empowerment, and overcome some of the challenges
involved, with opportunities to discuss, debate and
question approaches. Under the grant study tours and
exchange visits were organised in Asia, East Africa and
Latin America, with different themes and objectives:
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Rural women entrepreneurs from
Madagascar and Mauritius meet
Staff from IFAD supported projects in
Afghanistan visited projects in Bangladesh which have applied a women’s empowerment
focus to their rural finance and microcredit programmes. They were then able to reflect
together about how the lessons might apply to their own context, and its different
challenges for targeting women.
Rural women entrepreneurs from Madagascar visited the neighbouring island of Mauritius
to see how rural women are supported to set up and manage their own agro-processing
businesses. Afterwards they not only applied some of the ideas they had seen and shared
them with others, but strengthened their networking to continue to learn from others;
In Tajikistan, staff from IFAD-supported projects in the South visited projects in the North
where women have been supported to strengthen their own contributions to, and benefits
from, the fibre processing value chain. Project staff were also able to meet experts and
donors to talk through how they might apply lessons learned in their own region.
Staff from Central America and the Caribbean visited projects in El Salvador and
Guatemala, to see how rural organisations support women’s empowerment and gender
equality, and how the ‘Cerrando Brecha’ methodology is implemented in practice. They
drew lessons on how rural organisations can support and promote women’s empowerment.
Participants of the Latin America gender mainstreaming workshop in El Salvador were also
able to complement theoretical discussions with structured visits to local rural organisations
and rural development projects, and later joint reflection of the findings.
The tours were of different lengths and each with a different thematic focus, but all included time
for participants to prepare and later reflect on what they had seen and learned, and how they might
apply it to their own context. Participants found study tours to be a very effective way for
knowledge to be shared and applied to different situations, as long as the different projects and
contexts had enough in common for lessons to be applied. All study tour participants who
responded to the grant evaluation survey felt they had gained skills and tools to apply to their own
work, and felt that they had better networks to support them in future gender mainstreaming work.
However, they nearly all felt that the most important follow up activity would be training on gender
analysis methods.
Workshops:
The great bulk of work funded under the grant has
been workshops, for IFAD staff, key partners
including FAOand project staff in different regions
to undergo training, joint analysis and networking.
In all, 17 workshops and training events have been
carried out in all regions and Rome, including
stand-alone workshops and the integration of
gender sessions into IFAD-supported events or
reviews. These included
 Thematic workshops or training sessions
looking at gender dimensions of issues
such as land rights (in Mozambique),
livestock (in Mongolia) and rural finance
(in Armenia, Zambia, Rwanda and
Uganda), including some training
methodologies;
 Technical training and workshops on
gender analysis tools (including SEAGA
training in Burkina Faso, Congo and
Training of trainers in Kenya
Senegal and e-learning training in Palestine), and
to develop gender mainstreaming strategies and
action plans (El Salvador and Afghanistan) and a regional gender training of trainers held in
Kenya;
 Workshops (in Rome and Ethiopia) and a training methodology to look at how gender issues
and dimensions can be better integrated into investment programmes;
Workshops tended to employ interactive methods to encourage sharing of experiences and
discussion of challenges and strategies for integrating gender analysis and women’s empowerment
objectives into rural development work. For example, the Gender Equity and Rural Empowerment
workshop in El Salvador combined presentations of gender equity achievements in projects in the
region, sharing and discussion of case studies, action planning to strengthen gender equity and
empowerment, and visits to local organisations to learn about their gender equity strategies and
achievements. The land rights workshop also used case studies to explore issues and challenges. In
the rural finance workshops, participatory tools such as the
‘World Cafe’ were used to provide participants with more
opportunities for sharing and comparing their experiences.
Many of these methods have been produced as training
guidelines and shared in the Grant methodologies briefing.
Training for rural women:
Mohair processing training for
women in Tajikistan
Although the main focus of the Grant was to build capacity
and knowledge for integrating gender analysis and women’s
empowerment objectives in rural development work, some
grant funded activities sought to build the knowledge, capacity and opportunities of rural women
directly:
 In follow up to the study tour in Tajikistan, women working on fibre processing were provided
with training to improve the quality and range of their dyeing and weaving techniques;
 In Bosnia and Herzegovina, members of women farmers’ associations were trained in greenhouse
production and business planning to improve their own income and food security, and spread the
learning to others in their associations;
 In São Tomé and Principe, women fish processors were given training to improve the quality,
value and hygiene of their work and strengthen the entire fish value chain;
 In Armenia, rural women selected according to pre-agreed criteria were given training for
employment in the banking sector, resulting in two women immediately receiving employment
and others receiving qualifications and advice for entry into the sector.
Research:
Eight specific studies were funded or commissioned under the Grant, to explore gender issues and
dimensions within themes relating to rural development and agriculture, or to support future
planning and work. They highlight gender issues, identify learning and good practice, and feed into
both future policy and practice:
 In Sierra Leone, a study was conducted using participatory learning and action techniques to
explore the status of gender equality in rural areas, for project planning and policy dialogue.
 A participatory research study in South East Asia explored the gender dimensions of the impacts
of and responses to climate change;
 Analysis of gender dimensions of commodity production (oilseed and oil palm in Uganda and tea
and coffee in Rwanda) identified key elements for cooperatives, rural development projects and
extension services to ensure equitable access to income, technical advice and benefits;
 In Madagascar, the grant funded research on social inclusion of youth and women to support
the development of an IFAD inclusion strategy, and in Botswana a study was carried out to look
at equality issues in relation to gender and youth.
 At global level, a paper was developed to explore the gender dimensions of agricultural and
rural development technologies. The knowledge management component of the grant included
work to research communities of practice on gender and rural development within and outside
IFAD and FAO, to support future networking and sharing of lessons learned.
Many of the studies were conducted using participatory methods, involving a wide range of
stakeholders and listening to the perspectives of women and men.
Networking and knowledge sharing
The Grant programme included a global Knowledge Management component for the systematic
capture and sharing of learning generated and documented through the grant, as well as working
with regional and thematic networks to improve sharing of lessons on gender mainstreaming.
 The work has resulted in templates for planning, monitoring and reporting grant activities,
online material on all grant activities and monthly email updates on different themes and news
from the two agencies.
 To finalise the Grant, two learning events are being organised to share lessons and draw out
lessons and debates on the best investments for strengthening and supporting gender
mainstreaming in the two organisations.
 The Grant has also funded videos of several activities, including the Armenia banking workshops,
Uganda learning routes and Central American study tours.
Table: Grant-funded activities
Region
Year one: July 2009- June 10
Year two: July 2010- June 11
Asia Pacific
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Tajikistan study tour
South East Asia gender and
climate change study
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East Southern
Africa
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Madagascar study tour
Madagascar inclusion strategy
Rwanda microfinance training
Latin America
Caribbean
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Regional gender workshop
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Bangladesh study tour
Afghanistan gender training
Tajikistan fibre processing training
Mongolia gender and livestock
training
Botswana gender and youth study
Regional land rights workshop
Ethiopia investment workshop
Rwanda tea and coffee research
Regional gender training of trainers
Uganda oilseed value chain analysis
Zambia rural finance training
Contribution to Andean regional
workshop
Two El Salvador study tours
Guatemala study tour
Palestine e-learning materials and
training
North Africa
Near East
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Armenia rural finance workshop
Training for women farmers in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
West Central
Africa
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Burkina Faso SEAGA training
Congo SEAGA training
Senegal SEAGA training
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PLA gender study Sierra Leone
Training in fish processing for women
in Sao Tomé
Global
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Violence against women talk
Knowledge
management
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Reporting of all grant activities
online
Gender community of practice
analysis
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Gender in Investment Workshop
African Women Leaders Workshop
Gender rural finance learning routes
Gender and technology paper
Reporting of all grant activities online
Monthly email updates
Videos of Uganda learning routes
and Central American study tours
Grant Learning events in Rome.
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Further information:
The IFAD/FAO Grant Programme for Regional gender capacity and knowledge has compiled learning
and information from the supported activities on a wiki: http://genderlearning.wikispaces.com