Rumor has it that women are naturally the more environmentally conscious sex. As “keepers of the earth” they are the ones who selflessly care for the planet and are the ones who will bear the disproportionate burden as it is degraded. But is this really true?
The widely cited “fact” that women in Africa provide 60-80% of the labor in agriculture is the latest of a set of claims that have been called into question about women’s contributions in agriculture based on new data from six sub-Saharan African Countries.
There are many gender mainstreaming workshops that take place each year. Few are successful at motivating behavior change. But a workshop in Gondar, Ethiopia was different. Some researchers came to argue that gender mainstreaming isn’t necessary. They left as supporters of the approach.
For International Women’s Day, Andrew Noble, Interim Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems reflects on the importance of the inclusion of women in natural resource management and agriculture.
How can we translate gender strategies and indicators into on the ground action? This question rang throughout Stockholm World Water Week’s session on “Concrete Actions: Advancing the Integration of Gender, Water and Food Security.”
