Gender and youth inclusion in ARD processes

Inclusion is a key issue for Agricultural Research for Development (ARD). Development goals in and of themselves call for better livelihoods and opportunities for the less privileged actors working in agriculture. They also call for greater equity and balanced representation of the population at an institutional level. This brief focuses on how ARD processes can more sensitively address gender relations and youth issues. Women and young people have distinctive needs and interests which can be less visible within broader “Producer Organizations”, for example. At the same time, women and youth are themselves not homogeneous groups, and represent great diversity, crossing all social strata in a society. Increasingly, donors and major international development organizations (e.g. CGIAR research institutes, UN agencies, World Bank, etc.) require specific attention to gender inequality and youth unemployment in their programmes. Improving gender equality is the fifth of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).