Invest in Women to accelerate the development

Women play a central role not only in the agricultural sector but also in improving the nutritional status of family members - A Feature Article on International Women's Day 2024

Sri Lanka ranks 76th out of 189 countries on the HDI and it scores 0.35 (80th place) on the UN Gender Inequalities Index (2018). The Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) interventions directly support 04 key SDGs out of 17; SDG 1: No Poverty, SDG 2: Zero Hunger, SDG 5: Gender Equality, and SDG 13: Climate Action. Project interventions address the underlying causes of malnutrition by making the food system responsive to these causes to provide adequate, safe, diversified and nutrient-rich food. The CSIAP contributed to improving the nutritional status of individual farmers, their families, and communities. The project is empowering the smallholder farming community in terms of nutritional security enhancement, active citizen engagement, and ensuring gender-inclusive development.

WHAT?
Investment in nutrition is a dual imperative: moral and economic. It builds human capital and boosts shared prosperity. Addressing malnutrition yields multiple benefits, boosting gross national products, preventing child deaths, improving school attainment, reducing poverty, empowering women, and breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty.

WHY?

HOW?

• The project focused on addressing malnutrition among socio-economically disadvantaged families in 11 climatically vulnerable districts. Key vulnerabilities affected people in terms of nutrition improvement, e.g., food and nutrition insecurity due to Covid 19 pandemic, food price inflation, loss of agriculture production due to the impact of climate change, reduced variety and animal source food consumption, and reduced purchasing power.

• Women’s agricultural production was not recorded correctly and women farmers were invisible in decision-making bodies. Women suffered limited access to information, agrarian sector capacity-building technology, and farmer extension services.

• CSIAP integrated gender into the project’s technical and operational activities. e.g., internalized gender-inclusive policies, gender analysis through KPI, implemented GAP reduces the gender gap and enhances nutrition security, allocation for gender budgeting and data management on MIS, and continuous monitoring.

• Introduced Nutrition-Sensitive CSA. e.g., implemented 56,222 CSNSHGs and other agriculture programs in 258 GNDs. Introduced CSA practice and shared nutrition knowledge with the community. e.g., approximately 92,202 individuals participated in the IEC, of which 45% were women. 70,441 participated in the training.

• Women farmers had greater access to basic agricultural assets. e.g., 42% of women received agricultural assets and extension services through the project.

• Prevailing bottlenecks prevent women’s participation and their capacity to benefit from capacity building. Empowering women (skills and capacity building, economic, social and nutrition). eg. 40% of leading women farmers are assured equal access to special skills and knowledge-building inputs and have undergone training to become CSA farmers at the dedicated Climate-Smart Farmer Training School, Thirappane. 30% of women are actively participating in SAC activities.

• Empowered women to play leadership roles and contribute to women’s participation in agriculture, enabling greater participation by women in all project activities. Facilitated women farmers' entry into irrigated agriculture. e.g., 30% of women represent SAC, 42% are proud members of the PS, and 35% in PA.

• Identify women farmers with leadership potential and build their capacities to take the lead in entering marketing interventions and providing high skill levels on par with male farmers through FBS.

• Encouraged women, men, girls, and boys to share knowledge and practice in cultivating, processing, making, and consuming foods of better nutritional values.

•  Integrating nutrition for strengthened market systems e.g., established 365 sales stalls in 11 districts). Developed clear links between producers and

•  Consumption of vegetables, fruits, pulses and other nutritious value crops from their HG to access the nutritional level.

• Recognized women from farming households as ‘farmers’ & ‘leaders’ for adopting climate resilience. Empower them to utilize low-cost locally available foods. Be smart - choose healthy food. Avoid processed foods high in fat, sugar, & salt.

Outcomes of the project

• Increased in yield for selected crops (27%)
• Cropping intensity (143%)
• Shared of non-paddy crops in the command area (48%)
• Areas under improved CSA practices (42,000ha)
• Increased direct project beneficiaries (365,471)
• Increased income (20%)

Written By:
Sharmila Shanmuganathan, Gender Development Officer (PMU), CSIAP