Microfinance institutions are vital for the agricultural sector in Burkina Faso and have a desire to improve their approaches to gender and nutrition in their work. #IGNITEforChange, Tanager’s project in partnership with Laterite and 60decibels, is working to do just that. In this video, Sokhna Gaye discusses the vital work her and the team are doing with a local microfinance institution to mainstream gender and nutrition.
International Women’s Day 2022 is an opportunity for development professionals to sharpen our approaches to improving gender outcomes for the communities we serve. It is also a celebration of the women in our programs and organization who work tirelessly towards better gender outcomes for their communities. At Tanager progress towards gender equality is not a stand-alone issue – this work is cross cutting and integrated into everything we do, from internal policies to external interventions.
IGNITE has also forged partnerships with four Local Service Providers – Fair & Sustainable in Ethiopia, Nafaka Kilimo in Tanzania, PanAfricare in Burkina Faso, and Centre for Gender Economics in Nigeria to scale IGNITE’s approach. In early March, IGNITE hosted 12 staff members representing the technical experts from the four LSPs.
Through IGNITE, Tanager, along with partners Laterite and 60 Decibels, is seeking to shine a spotlight on gender and its relationship to nutrition. The initiative — funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — aims to strengthen the ability of African institutions to integrate nutrition and gender into business methods and agriculture interventions.
The Nutrition-Sensitive Intervention Selection (NSIS) Tool is an interactive, choose your own adventure tool that provides potential nutrition interventions to you, depending on where you’re working in the food system.
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the vulnerability of smallholder farmers to unexpected crises. The crisis disproportionately impacted women, leading to negative consequences on household gender and nutrition outcomes. The pandemic exposed agricultural institutions to risks that impacted day-to-day operations and long-term impact, forcing institutions to adapt to the difficult environment on the ground.
Africa’s agriculture sector faces long-standing obstacles and opportunities. Many challenges — related to climate change and drought; pests and disease, such as the recent locust infestation in East Africa; gender gaps in access to land, as well as agricultural inputs and extension; and trade — affect farm productivity and nutrition security in intersecting and overlapping ways.
Tanager, ACDI/VOCA, and AV Ventures share a mission to improve economic and social conditions for vulnerable populations around the world. Although our organizations have different structures and approaches, collaboration and support for each other is vital for creating a positive impact for project participants and funders. The story of the newly formed Tanzanian NGO NAFAKA Kilimo is a wonderful example of how our organizations can contribute to sector-wide impact through collaboration.
Application of this tool illustrates how much capacity an agricultural development partner has on gender and nutrition and helps identify areas that can be built to increase technical capacity in gender and nutrition integration.
This document below is meant to guide you through the conceptualization, rationalization, and development of a strategy to integrate nutrition outcomes into the regular work of your organization, with support and assistance provided by Impacting Gender & Nutrition through Innovative Technical Exchange in Agriculture (IGNITE) as needed.
