• Institutional Change is Key to Scaling Impact: The IGNITE+ programme demonstrates that strengthening the capacity of agricultural institutions to integrate gender and nutrition leads to more inclusive services, better support for women farmers, and sustainable, system-wide change.
• Investing in Women drives Broad Socio-economic and Nutrition Gains: Across Ethiopia, Kenya and Burkina Faso, initiatives such as skills training, inclusive business models, and tailored financial services show that empowering women increases incomes, improves household nutrition, and creates ripple effects across communities and value chains.
• Partnerships and Collective Action Accelerate Transformation: The webinars underscored that governments, NGOs, private sector actors, and communities must work together. Collaborative approaches—such as VSLAs, gender champions, and inclusive business models—are essential to overcoming structural barriers and advancing gender equality in agrifood systems.

To mark International Women’s Day 2026, Tanager hosted a series of webinars joining the global community in embracing the theme, “Give to Gain”. The discussions reflected Tanager’s longstanding commitment to translating gender-transformative and nutrition-sensitive agriculture approaches into measurable impact for small-scale producers and households.

The theme also resonates strongly with United Nation’s declaration of 2026, as the International Year of the Woman Farmer, recognizing the critical role women play in agricultural and food systems, even as persistent structural barriers continue to limit their full participation across agrifood value chains.

 

The Ripple Effect:  Institutional Approaches and Impact in Advancing Women Empowerment

 

In Ethiopia, the webinar held in partnership with Fair and Sustainable (F&S) on 3rd March was graced by Her Excellency Roman Tesfaye, the former First Lady and CEO of the Hailemariam and Roman Foundation (HRF).  She emphasized that women empowerment cannot rest on one actor alone— it requires collective responsibility.

“Empowering women is a shared responsibility. Governments, development partners, academia, civil society, and communities must all play their part in creating systems where women can thrive,” said Tesfaye.

Through engaging discussions and presentations, the panelists comprising of Bernadette Muyomi, Gender Expert at Tanager; Tefsaye Falaha, Chief of Programs at Hailemariam & Roman Foundation (HRF), Sushan Gebreselassei, Country Lead at Bopinc and Dr. LemLem Aregu, Gender and Inclusion Head at the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) —shared key insights on how investing in women through institutional reform, knowledge sharing, and strategic partnerships  has led to stronger, more inclusive agrifood systems and improved nutrition outcomes.

• The IGNITE+ program, implemented by Tanager and F&S is supporting agricultural institutions to deliver nutrition-sensitive, gender integrated programs to small-scall producers.
• Hailemariam & Roman Foundation works in conservative pastoralist communities, providing mentorship, soft skills, and startup capital for women-led small businesses. A major pillar of their work is advocacy to challenge cultural norms that favour patriarchal systems often restrict women’s ownership of resources.
• The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) through its Agricultural Dignified Job Employment for Youth program, where nearly 80% of beneficiaries are young women is promoting economic empowerment through a mindset change approach. Through targeted trainings that build self-esteem and business skills, the program has enabled many women to succeed in enterprises such as poultry production and “Injera making” groups, hence creating ripple effects that strengthen local food supply systems.
• The Beyond Farming Collective program by Bopinc promotes inclusive business models that create economic opportunities for women. By introducing performance-based seasonal employment within unions, the program has helped women to double their income compared to traditional fixed-wage roles. They also advocate for more supportive environments, such as allowing mothers to bring their children to work.

Burkina Faso: Innovative Solutions and Strategies to Promote Financial Inclusion

 

On 4th March, Tanager and its Local Service Provider, the Association Professionnelle des Systèmes Financiers Décentralisés du Burkina Faso (APFSD-BF) —an association of microfinance institutions in Burkina Faso hosted an engaging webinar on the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)  and financial institutions in empowering female farmers and improving nutrition outcomes.

The panellists Irène Denne, Gender Expert at APFSD-BF; Koffi Mickael Yameogo, Country Representative at Nitidae, and Paul Dilawa Go, Director General of Caisse Mutuelle du Burkina Faso (CMBF) highlighted the critical role of women in agriculture and the systemic barriers they face such as limited access to land, financial exclusion. They also showcased successful strategies being implemented through Tanager’s IGNITE+ project and its partners for women empowerment and better nutrition outcomes. These include:

• Tailored financial products: Institutions such as CMBF have developed financial products to protect women’s capital, provide school fee loans. In addition, mandatory training on hygiene and nutrition is conducted before loan disbursement to ensure nutrition-sensitive outcomes.

• Alternative collaterals: To bypass the lack of land titles, MFIs are using group collateral and supporting women in forming official cooperatives and associations to improve access to finance.
• Access to land and self-financing : NGOs such as Nitidae organize women into cooperatives to help them gain access to land. The organization also develops farmland for these cooperatives to grow nutritious food. In addittion, they facilitate   access to financial resources by establishing Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), strengthening women’s financial independence.

 

Achieving Gender Integration through Africa’s Agri-Food Institutions

The webinar held in partnership with Solidaridad East and Central Africa and and Tymax Agribusiness Solutions Limited on 3rd March highlighted the strategies, challenges, and measurable successes of integrating gender-conscious practices into agricultural systems.

Dr. Catherine Odenyo, Senior Regional Gender Inclusivity Advisor at  Solidaridad and Flaviah Kovesiga Project Manager at Solidaridad  presented a case study on cocoa project they are implementing in Uganda that used various innovative approaches including the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) for household planning and decision-making, Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) to improve access to capital,  the gender champions model for community-led change and  use of gender-sensitive indicators to  measure shifts in control, such as who signs off on investments and who owns household assets.

Some of the key lessons from the cocoa project to ensure gender mainstreaming efforts are sustainable include:

• Household-centered focus: Transformation begins at the household level because productivity is tied directly to how families allocate income and make collaborative decisions.
• Local ownership: Gender champions are influential community members who remain in place long after a project ends to continue peer mentorship and accountability.
• Financial and policy linkages: For long-term impact, grassroots gains such as adoption of VSLAs should be digitized and linked to formal financial systems and government programs to inform broader policy.
• Engaging men as allies: Meaningful change requires seeing men as allies and helping them understand the tangible benefits of joint prosperity, such as improved household governance and more stable income

Turning Commitment into Impact

The three webinars concluded with a call to move from dialogue to action and from commitment to implementation. Participants emphasized that enabling women farmers thrive requires systemic empowerment across economic, social, and technological dimensions.

In their closing remarks, several speakers reiterated that progress is most powerful when it is shared, and through collective support, the journey towards achieving gender equality can be accelerated if all food system actors work together.