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Gender Empowerment

In Phase II, ASMC will use the Reach, Benefit, and Empower framework to identify strategic ways in which every technology scaled by the project can include women. Furthermore, efforts will be made to identify and address gender barriers and enablers across a technology’s uptake pathway. Gender assessments in Phase I indicated that women play an important role in the household’s adoption of mechanization technology, but are excluded from extension and outreach events due to the perception that women do not use mechanized tools. Negative sociocultural perceptions of women operating machinery or being involved in farm production are also barriers to integrating women into agricultural mechanization. However, women represent an untapped potential in the mechanization market as clients needing service providers and as entrepreneurs.

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Local Bangladeshi women farmers preparing seedling trays for the ASMC promoted rice transplanter

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The presentation of a vegetable cart by a Cambodian woman

Hub-Specific Activities

Asia Innovation Hub

  • Target women in Cambodia with tailored trainings that meet practical needs and strategic interests, including financial considerations to adopting CA, accessible training (time, location, low literacy), financial resources (access to credit), and relevant resources (e.g. list of service providers). (Dissemination).

  • Work with existing women’s cooperatives (integrated pest management clubs) or farmer associations to enable join ownership of mechanization technologies, and operation of service provision business in Bangladesh. Cooperatives will receive training in business and management skills to encourage female entrepreneurs. Working with cooperatives will also enable women business owners to network easily with peers. (Adoption)

  • Connect service providers to women who are heads of households in Bangladesh. Due to out-migration of men, female-headed households face the double burden of managing farm and household tasks and possess greater decision-making power; and thus are ideal clients for mechanization. (Adoption)

West Africa Innovation Hub

  • Continue to ensure design of mechanized tools such as planter in Burkina Faso meet women’s needs (Design)

  • Work with existing Cooperatives and Unions to disseminate information about new technologies in Burkina Faso (UPPA-Houet) and Senegal. Unions are very effective in promoting adoption of new technologies, and work specifically with women to provide technology training and access to credit for growth capital. Furthermore, they are trusted sources of information for new technologies. (Dissemination)

  • Assess intra-household gender dynamics of households where women attend mechanization training, operate service provision business or own technologies. Finalize gender technology assessment framework for early stage technologies.

  • Conduct gender technology assessment in Senegal to ensure gender appropriate technologies are promoted and implemented.

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