Gendered opportunities for improving soil health: A conceptual framework to help set the research agenda

Gendered opportunities for improving soil health: A conceptual framework to help set the research agenda

Author: Zhang, Wei

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2019-04-10

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13:

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Healthy soils play a critical role in supporting agricultural productivity, climate change mitigation and resilience, and a range of ecosystem services. Degraded and poorly responsive soils cover large areas of Africa and represent the majority of poor farmers’ fields in certain regions. While there are hundreds of technical options for improving the sustainability of land management and preventing or reversing degradation, there are many sociocultural, institutional, economic, and policy barriers hindering their adoption at large scale. At the same time, there is an emerging consensus within the international development community that gender equality and women’s empowerment are both an end in themselves and an important means for achieving a range of economic and social development objectives such as improved food security, child nutrition and education, and women’s health. Yet, gender inequality remains a wicked problem, whose deep-seated socio-economic and ideological causes are difficult to recognize and address, and which require context- and culture-specific understandings and approaches, involving multiple stakeholders with different and sometimes conflicting interests and different positions within power hierarchies. There is an urgent need to make more rapid progress on restoring and sustaining soil productivity and ecosystem functions and also to leverage soil health management for progress on gender equality. While there are important interconnections between soil health and gender equality and empowerment, these are seldom recognized, and have not been addressed in a coherent or concerted manner. In this study, we have reviewed relevant gender literature and proposed a conceptual framework to help illuminate important gender considerations for soil health and land management. These considerations are essential for identifying gender-based constraints, opportunities, and unintended consequences in promoting soil management technologies. Moreover, the application of the framework can help guide in priority setting with respect to where gender-responsive interventions are essential. We make several recommendations for setting priorities for gender-soil health research.


Addressing gender equality in sustainable soil management

Addressing gender equality in sustainable soil management

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2023-06-16

Total Pages: 48

ISBN-13: 9251378061

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This technical guide for addressing gender equality in Sustainable Soil Management (SSM) is designed to provide an easily accessible and understandable reference on how to apply the Voluntary Guidelines on Sustainable Soil Management (VGSSM) for building healthy soils, while ensuring gender equality and women’s empowerment in all aspects of SSM. It is intended for use by a wide audience, including policymakers, public institutions and development partners, as well as by rural communities, farmers’ organizations, women and youth groups, and agricultural advisory services involved in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of soil management policies and programmes. The guide may also be useful for other relevant stakeholders, including academia and research organizations, intergovernmental organizations and non‑governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector, who can play an important role in supporting, strengthening and documenting efforts made to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment in SSM.


Soil Law and Governance in India

Soil Law and Governance in India

Author: Bharat H. Desai

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-12-29

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 3031323602

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This curated book addresses, in the scholarly realm, the problems of soil degradation and provides some practical solutions for them to save soil life. It comprises ten specially invited chapters that address the global soil framework, soil challenges in India, existing policy, law and institutional framework as well as other perspectives. Soil is our biological capital. The soil health is critical for survival of the humans (and other life forms) since almost 95% of our food comes from it. It also has significant potential as a sink for carbon through sequestering. Excessive and inappropriate land use leads to various forms of land degradation that becomes contributing factor for hunger, migration and even wars. There are several multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) including UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) that hold relevance for addressing the global soil problematique. The UNCCD Strategic Framework (2018-2030) has declared desertification/land degradation and drought (DLDD) as “challenges of a global dimension”. As a result, sustainable soil management (SSM) has emerged as an important goal for attaining Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs 2030). In the backdrop of these globally ordained processes, India appears to be seriously pursuing the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) target within the framework of the UNCCD. As a corollary, India has set an ambitious goal of halting any further land degradation by 2030 and rehabilitate at least 30 million hectares of degraded wasteland, forest land and agricultural land. This ideational effort by eminent legal scholars, soil scientists and practitioners aim to promote concerted teaching and research in the field of soil law and governance in the University Faculties of Law, National Law Schools, Institutions of Eminence and other legal and scientific bodies. The ‘seeds sown’ in the soil of knowledge through this effort will, hopefully, provide an impetus for more in-depth research concerning soil law and governance in India and beyond.


A Guide to Gender-analysis Frameworks

A Guide to Gender-analysis Frameworks

Author: Candida March

Publisher: Oxfam

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 9780855984038

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This is a single-volume guide to all the main analytical frameworks for gender-sensitive research and planning. It draws on the experience of trainers and practitioners, and includes step-by-step instructions for using the frameworks.


Gender in Agriculture

Gender in Agriculture

Author: Agnes R. Quisumbing

Publisher: Springer Science & Business

Published: 2014-04-29

Total Pages: 447

ISBN-13: 940178616X

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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) produced a 2011 report on women in agriculture with a clear and urgent message: agriculture underperforms because half of all farmers—women—lack equal access to the resources and opportunities they need to be more productive. This book builds on the report’s conclusions by providing, for a non-specialist audience, a compendium of what we know now about gender gaps in agriculture.


Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook

Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook

Author: World Bank

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2008-10-07

Total Pages: 792

ISBN-13: 0821375881

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The 'Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook' provides an up-to-date understanding of gender issues and a rich compilation of compelling evidence of good practices and lessons learned to guide practitioners in integrating gender dimensions into agricultural projects and programs. It is serves as a tool for: guidance; showcasing key principles in integrating gender into projects; stimulating the imagination of practitioners to apply lessons learned, experiences, and innovations to the design of future support and investment in the agriculture sector. The Sourcebook draws on a wide range of experience from World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and other donor agencies, governments, institutions, and groups active in agricultural development. The Sourcebook looks at: access to and control of assets; access to markets, information and organization; and capacity to manage risk and vulnerability through a gender lens. There are 16 modules covering themes of cross-cutting importance for agriculture with strong gender dimensions (Policy, Public Administration and Governance; Agricultural Innovation and Education; Food Security; Markets; Rural Finance; Rural Infrastructure; Water; Land; Labor; Natural Resource Management; and Disaster and Post-Conflict Management) and specific subsectors in agriculture (Crops, Livestock, Forestry, and Fisheries). A separate module on Monitoring and Evaluation is included, responding to the need to track implementation and development impact. Each module contains three different sub-units: (1) A Module Overview gives a broad introduction to the topic and provides a summary of major development issues in the sector and rationale of looking at gender dimension; (2) Thematic Notes provide a brief and technically sound guide in gender integration in selected themes with lessons learned, guidelines, checklists, organizing principles, key questions, and key performance indicators; and (3) Innovative Activity Profiles describe the design and innovative features of recent and exciting projects and activities that have been implemented or are ongoing.


Transforming Gender and Food Security in the Global South

Transforming Gender and Food Security in the Global South

Author: Jemimah Njuki

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-11-25

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 1317190017

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Drawing on studies from Africa, Asia and South America, this book provides empirical evidence and conceptual explorations of the gendered dimensions of food security. It investigates how food security and gender inequity are conceptualized within interventions, assesses the impacts and outcomes of gender-responsive programs on food security and gender equity and addresses diverse approaches to gender research and practice that range from descriptive and analytical to strategic and transformative. The chapters draw on diverse theoretical perspectives, including transformative learning, feminist theory, deliberative democracy and technology adoption. As a result, they add important conceptual and empirical material to a growing literature on the challenges of gender equity in agricultural production. A unique feature of this book is the integration of both analytic and transformative approaches to understanding gender and food security. The analytic material shows how food security interventions enable women and men to meet the long-term nutritional needs of their households, and to enhance their economic position. The transformative chapters also document efforts to build durable and equitable relationships between men and women, addressing underlying social, cultural and economic causes of gender inequality. Taken together, these combined approaches enable women and men to reflect on gendered divisions of labor and resources related to food, and to reshape these divisions in ways which benefit families and communities. Co-published with the International Development Research Centre.


Thinking with Soils

Thinking with Soils

Author: Juan Francisco Salazar

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-06-25

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1350109584

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This book presents a novel and systematic social theory of soil, and is representative of the rising interest in 'the material' in social sciences. Bringing together new modes of 'critical description' with speculative practices and methods of inquiry, it contributes to the exploration of current transformations in socioecologies, as well as in political and artistic practices, in order to address global ecological change. The chapters in this edited volume challenge scholars to attend more carefully to the ways in which they think about soil, both materially and theoretically. Contributors address a range of topics, including new ways of thinking about the politics of caring for soils; the ecological and symbiotic relations between soils; how the productive capacities and contested governance of soils are deployed as matters of political concern; and indigenous ways of knowing and being with soil.


Designing and Conducting Gender, Sex, and Health Research

Designing and Conducting Gender, Sex, and Health Research

Author: John L. Oliffe

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2011-04-18

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 1452236550

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This book is the first textbook dedicated to critically examining gender and sex in study designs, methods, and analysis in health research. In order to produce ethical, accurate, and effective research findings it is vital to integrate both sex (biological characteristics) and gender (socially constructed factors) into any health study. This book draws attention to some of the methodological complexities in this enterprise and offers ways to thoughtfully address these by drawing on empirical examples across a range of topics and disciplines. Designing and Conducting Gender, Sex, and Health Research is an invaluable resource for students undertaking research in health sciences, medicine, nursing, gender studies, women′s studies, epidemiology, health policy, psychology, and sociology. From John L. Oliffe and Lorraine Greaves:


Gender, the Environment and Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific

Gender, the Environment and Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific

Author: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

Publisher: United Nations

Published: 2017-09-27

Total Pages: 110

ISBN-13: 9213627335

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This publication is the first Asia-Pacific report that comprehensively maps out the intersections between gender and environment at the levels of household, work, community and policy. It examines gender concerns in the spheres of food security, agriculture, energy, water, fisheries and forestry, and identifies strategic entry points for policy interventions. Based on a grounded study of the reality in the Asia-Pacific region, this report puts together good practices and policy lessons that could be capitalized by policymakers to advance the agenda of sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific.