Revolutionizing Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services for Women Farmers

Hyderabad: Agricultural experts, policymakers, and leaders in agri-food systems gathered for an international workshop aimed at revolutionizing the delivery of agricultural Extension and Advisory Services (EAS) to empower women farmers.

This three-day workshop, from 5-7 November 2024 in Hyderabad, explored innovations and identified strategies to make EAS more inclusive and gender-responsive, addressing critical gaps that have limited women’s access to essential agricultural knowledge, technologies, and resources.

Held against the backdrop of rising global food insecurity and climate challenges, the workshop was organized by the CGIAR’s GENDER Impact Platform through the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) to spotlight solutions for bridging disparities in productivity, farm management, and income among women in agriculture.

Dr Saravanan Raj, Director of Agricultural Extension at MANAGE and one of the chief guests at the opening session of the workshop, highlighted, “We need to empower local grassroots extension professionals through extension institutions and take the knowledge from these institutions to mainstream gender responsive agriculture.”

Women contribute significantly to the global agri-food system as producers, farm managers, traders, and entrepreneurs; however, they remain underserved by extension services, missing out on vital training and resources that could enhance their productivity and livelihoods.

With 66% of women’s employment in sub-Saharan Africa and 71% in Southern Asia linked to agriculture, Dr. Ranjitha Puskur, Evidence Module Lead at CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform and Principal Scientist, Gender and Livelihoods at IRRI, pointed out that the need to make EAS gender-responsive is more pressing than ever.

“We know that women don’t have enough access to extension services, but we are not moving the dial on that. Closing the gaps is fine but we need to move beyond the symptoms and address the root causes,” said Dr Ranjitha Puskur.

The workshop further shed light on the barriers that restrict women’s access to EAS, including societal norms, limited land ownership, and reduced access to digital tools and platforms. Additionally, the workshop featured public and private sector innovations, with participants sharing best practices and actionable strategies for a more gender-responsive approach in extension service delivery.

One of the key observations of the present scenario also shows that there is a shift towards using digital platforms in agricultural extension services. A participant from Bayer shared how a recently rolled out a WhatsApp chat bot is supporting over 4000 farmers with advisory services through videos and graphics. More opportunities lie ahead with the use of AI tools to bridge the knowledge gaps to make farmers’ lives better. The farmer to farmer learning and farmer field schools which are now also available on different digital platforms continue to be effective.

This workshop presented a unique opportunity to address the fundamental challenge facing global agri-food systems today: ensuring equitable access to resources and knowledge for women farmers and producers.

In his opening remarks, ICRISAT Director General-Interim, Dr Stanford Blade, echoed the learnings from the 3-day workshop calling for intentionality from all actors in the systems for gender responsiveness.

“As we go into the future of agriculture, we must ensure policies and practices actively support women farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs who represent vital and transformative forces in the sector”, said Dr Stanford Blade.

With gender-responsive EAS, we can empower women to achieve higher productivity and contribute more significantly to food security and economic growth. In doing so, we also stand to boost global GDP and enhance the resilience of communities worldwide.