Summary on the mid project workshops in ghana and malawi

1. Summary on the Mid-Project
Workshops in Ghana and Malawi
Leo Zulu, Philip Grabowski, Ida Djenontin, Judith Kamoto, Jessica Kamphanje-Phiri, Akosua
Darkwah, Irene Egyir, Kipo Jimah, and Gundula Fischer on behalf of Africa RISING-SAIRLA
Project
10/01/2018
The need for inclusive and equitable sustainable agriculture in African countries is no longer contested, but
effective tools and metrics to assess its attainment is still not available to all key managers and decision
makers in institutions working on agriculture and related issues of gender and youth inclusion in Africa.
The Africa RISING–SAIRLA project “Achieving equitable benefits from Sustainable Agricultural
Intensification (SAI) through more effective tools and metrics” has taken on that goal of developing a guide
for decision makers to help them analyze gender and youth inclusion and inequities in sustainable
agricultural intensification. The SAIRLA research team recently conducted project mid-term workshops in
the two project countries of Ghana and Malawi, with the aim of updating stakeholders and members of
National Learning Alliances (NLA) on progress in the development of the decision-makers guide. The team
also sought participants feedback and input to ensure that the guide meets actual stakeholders’ needs and
addresses practical knowledge gaps in detecting gender and youth inequities and designing appropriate
interventions to advance inclusive and equitable SAI. The theme for the workshops was Gender and Youth
Analysis for Sustainable Agricultural Intensification.”
Three workshops were held from 11 to 21 June, 2018, with two in Ghana and one in Malawi. Eighty-four
(84) participants consisting of diverse stakeholders from Government, NGOs, the private sector, and
research/academic agencies that deal with and make decisions on sustainable agriculture intensification
and related issues of youth and gender equity in agriculture attended the workshops. Specifically, the
workshops provided a platform for the researchers and stakeholders to discuss the draft “Decision-Makers’
Guide to Inclusive Sustainable Agricultural Intensification”, initial results of research on “Participatory
Indicators Development for SAI Assessment”, and the use of “Gender Transformative Approaches in
decision making for SAI”.
Tools for data collection for inclusive SAI
Five promising tools for analyzing and anticipating gendered and inter-generational impacts of agricultural
investments were discussed with the participants. The World Café facilitation format was used. The format
allows all participants to have the chance to interact in small groups as they are exposed to each of the
tools. The research team pre-selected the decision tools based on a comprehensive literature review
combined with interviews with SAI decision makers in both countries and with international experts who
use the tools. The tools were: Gender and Youth Balance Tree; Participatory mapping tools; Time
allocation tools; Gender and Youth Inclusive Value Chain Analysis; and the Youth and Land
Responsiveness Criteria Tool. The peer-to-peer discussions and exchange of experiences and
knowledge on the tools, both enhanced awareness and served as initial training on the use of the tools for
gender and youth equity analysis. Participants actively discussed the relevance of the tools for their
particular contexts, shared their experiences in using similar tools, and provided valuable feedback that will
be incorporated into the final version of the manual for decision-makers. Most importantly, the participants
expressed great interest in the tools as a valuable resource for their decision making, and in a subsequent
tailored training in in the use of the tools.

2. Participatory indicators development for
SAI assessment
The project team presented initial findings from the research conducted under the project’s theme 2 on
the customization of SAI indicators to the local and national contexts. The presentations were based on
research done in Malawi and reflect some of the ways in which indicators and metrics to assess the levels
of gender and youth inclusion/exclusion can be ‘ground-truthed’ to the context within which projects and
programs are implemented. Highlights include concepts on how the youth are locally defined and how their
roles in agriculture are conceptualized locally; implications of these conceptualizations and perceptions for
SAI inclusion; relevant existing policies that promote youth and gender inclusion; perceived agricultural
improvements along with gender-differentiated benefits in both patrilineal and matrilineal societies;
decision-making processes and power relations regarding land issues and uses (e.g., crop farming,
livestock management, aquaculture); and time allocation and management as critical factors of SAI
inclusion that can be captured when using the tools for data collection as well as tools for decision-making
in SAI projects. Discussions revealed the value of such customization work, as they pinpointed differences
emerging between the two countries. Participants provided useful feedback on how the contextual
differences shape the measurement of different indicators.
Tools for decision making for inclusive SAI
How data from the gender and youth analysis tools can be used in a useful manner to inform decision-
making processes for inclusive SAI is paramount. Emphasis was, thus, on the complementarity between
the tools for data collection and those for making decisions when monitoring SAI project implementation.
Participants provided useful validation of much of the content and relevant input to enhance aspects, which
the research team will take on board in the next version.
Gender transformative approach to foster
inclusive SAI
Gender relations and outcomes that affect equitable and inclusive SAI are expressed in both written and
unwritten rules in four main institutional domains, including Household, Community, Market, and
Government domains. Using an interactive exercise, workshop participants discussed the need and how to
capture changes occurring in these domains for effective and transformative decision making to achieve
equitable and inclusive SAI. Many participants indicated that the presentation and participatory exercise on
transformative gender approaches revealed important insights that they can use to ensure gender equity
in the long term.
Monitoring and evaluation feedback
Pre- and post-assessments that tested the level of relevant knowledge of the participants at the beginning
and end of the workshops show very positive results. Beyond revealing the good conduct of the workshop
in terms of content, quality, relevance, and delivery of the material, the evaluation revealed that participants
registered significant improvement in awareness along three lines. These include awareness of
methods/tools for assessing the effects of agricultural change for women and the youth; preparedness to
use the methods/tools to assess gender and youth inequities; and use of gender transformative approaches
to achieve long-term gains in inclusive SAI. Participants highlighted inadequate time allocated to the

3. workshop as an area that needs improvement for future workshops to enhance positive workshop
outcomes.
Moving forward
Integration of the valuable inputs gained from the workshop participants into the draft decision-makers’
guidebook will be integral part of the future research activities that will also advance the field-testing of
some gender and youth equity analysis tools. Findings from the participatory indicator development
research in Malawi and Ghana will be used to further inform the development of the guidebook. In addition,
the research team will draw on findings from the gender transformative component, which grounds the
tools and decision-making processes within the local social-institutional and policy settings to enhance the
decision-making guide document.
Overall, the technical document will provide relevant information on adequate and promising tools for
collecting data to anticipate and foresee how an agricultural investment or technology may affect women
and the youth for the purpose of fostering inclusive SAI. It will also provide information on ways in which
project and program implementers, managers, and decision-makers can customize the indicators or metrics
incorporated in these data collection tools for assessing gendered SAI impacts to the prevailing local
dynamics and use the data gathered to enhance their decision-making processes and foster inclusive and
equitable SAI. Finally, the decision-makers guide will emphasize how to sustainably address gender
relations and outcomes that prevent inclusive SAI. Here, the document will elaborate on the necessity of
decision-making processes to capture and take into consideration simultaneous and complex changes
occurring in various institutional domains associated with SAI, including at the household, the community,
the market, and the Government institutional domains.
Given the considerable interest that workshop participants expressed in the final product, the research
team plans to conduct the completed decision-makers' guide training and dissemination workshops in mid-
2019 to present the guide and build stakeholders’ capacity on how to use the tools therein.