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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Improving the use of ICTs to integrate gender and nutrition in agricultural extension

The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the provision of agricultural extension services improves farmers’ access to information and knowledge. This helps them make informed decisions that improve their production and access to the market, among other benefits. To ensure effective and sustainable integration of gender into agricultural extension services as well as improve food and nutrition security, ICTs can play an important role if and when they are carefully integrated into the system.

Woman farmer receiving mobile money on her phone. Photo by Sayma Islam, Research Assistant, WorldFish/flickr

To integrate ICTs into agricultural extension services systems, a careful analysis of information, communication and knowledge needs of women farmers is essential. Understanding constraining issues that would make this integration a challenge such as women farmers’ access to devices as well as how to respond to handle the barriers is important to the success of this endevour.

Constraints encountered in the implementation of ICTs in provision of agricultural extension services

Some of the commonly used ICT interventions include the use of SMS services, provision of information portals in form of websites, Interactive Voice Response systems, radio programmes, recorded audio playing devices, recorded video playing devices and television programmes and mobile applications, among others. Implementing these interventions is faced with various constraints leading to unsuccessful or less impact projects.

The constraints encountered in the integration of ICT in the provision of agricultural extension services are around issues including language and literacy, trust, access to devices and knowledge of operation, cell phone network coverage and costs, device support, web access, electricity, sustainability and ownership, and lack of effective integration into agricultural extension services systems, among others.

Rethinking the approach to Integrating ICTs into Agricultural Extension Services Systems

Information disseminated to women farmers, whether in form of text, audio or video should be in a language that can be understood by the recipients. Because of low literacy levels among women, information being transmitted should be encoded in a form that makes it easy for them to understand. For instance, information which has been encoded into audio or video and translated into a local language can be understood by most women with low levels of literacy than text even if it were to be translated. Ownership of devices and knowledge on how to operate them is low among women than in men.

Creating an enabling environment for women to own these devices and learn how to operate them would increase their access to information, communication and knowledge. It is also important to ensure that trust is created between women farmers and the source of information. To ensure effectiveness and sustainability, ICTs should be integrated fully in AES systems and not just be implemented as standalone projects. Guidelines can be developed to help institution s integrate ICTs into AES systems, this will ensure careful assessment of needs, choice of relevant ICT tools and methodologies such as the provision of ICT services by local young entrepreneurs, partnerships, capacity development, implementation and monitoring and evaluation.


If effectively integrated into AES systems, ICTs can improve women farmers’ access to information, communication and knowledge. Better access to information, communication and knowledge can improve participation and decision making for women and empower them to improve their production of crops and ruminants. It also improves awareness of nutritional implications of their food systems, an important aspect to help achieve integration of gender and nutrition into AES systems.

By Simon Wandila, Social Reporter. INGENAES Global Symposium and Learning Exchange. January, 2017. Lusaka, Zambia

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Developing women farmer inclusive agricultural extension services systems

Developing Women Farmer Inclusive Agricultural Extension Services Systems.

Agricultural Extension Services (AES) systems play an important role in ensuring participation of women farmers and ensuring they benefit from the nutritional value of their produce. Women farmers’ awareness of nutritional implications of food systems, and their participation in agricultural extension services contribute to food and nutrition security at household level. Food and nutrition security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to food. It exists when they are able to consume it in both sufficient quantity and quality to meet their dietary needs and food preferences, and they are supported by an environment of adequate sanitation, health services, and care, allowing for a healthy and active life (FAO 1996). 

Kenyan Women with Nutritious Crops. Photo: USAID


Characteristics of Agricultural Extension Services systems that ignore women farmers


Agricultural Extension Services systems that are not carefully developed ignore women farmers’ needs and limit their participation. Some of the elements of such systems include concentration on mono cropping that promote market driven incentives; tolerance of culturally influenced restriction of consumption of certain types of food; focusing on market value of principle crops rather than the nutritional value; tolerance of cultural norms that restrict women; emphasizing priorities for men, among others.

An increase in production of nutrition-rich crops, and the associated decrease in prices at market value, is one frequently cited mechanism to ensure greater consumption. When production is concentrated on a limited number of staple crops incentivized by the market- and sometimes due to biased research, EAS, and policy orientation that favors them, diversifying production may eliminate the price distortions that can result from induced scarcity in neglected nutritious crops.

Some cultural practices dictate that a certain gender or group of people especially women and children, should not consume certain types of food. This restricts women and children from benefitting from the nutritional value of the food they are restricted from consuming. Incorporating change of mindset of farmers on cultural practices as well as creating awareness to ensure appreciation of nutritional value of produce whose consumption is culturally restricted, can help achieve food and nutrition security.

Incorporating monitoring and evaluation tools with indicators to track for women farmers’ inclusion

Review of AES systems is important to ensure that they are gender sensitive. Essentially measuring gender integration should be incorporated into AES systems. The process should include review of monitoring and evaluation tools and processes to ensure inclusion of gender and nutrition indicators to track for women farmers’ level of inclusion in agricultural extension services. The results of such evaluations should inform the review of AES systems to ensure they do not ignore women. It is also important to ensure that men are trained in how to reach women farmers as a way of increasing the inclusion of women.


Carefully designed AES systems should ensure women farmers participate and increase their awareness of nutritional implications of their food systems. These systems should have characteristics that improve nutrition through an increase in access and quality of nutritious foods, and ensure that the agricultural sector pay more attention to activities at the intersection of production and consumption.

By Simon Wandila, Social Reporter. INGENAES Global Symposium and Learning Exchange. January, 2017. Lusaka, Zambia