This study investigated the effect of climate information on the climate change perceptions of pastoralists in the Rwenzori region, Western Uganda. Data on socio-economic characteristics, climate risk perceptions, use of indigenous knowledge-based forecasts (IFs) and scientific knowledge-based forecasts (SFs) were collected from 269 pastoralists using household surveys. The findings indicated that pastoralists using IFs only were more likely to perceive flood increase. Pastoralists using both IF and SF were more likely to perceive temperature increase, flood increase and drought increase. Apart from climate forecasts, other factors of significance included gender, education level, social capital, herd size, farm size, access to hired labour, herd mobility, agricultural extension access, access to government programmes on climate change and dissemination channels of climate change information. Pastoralists tend to put more attention on climate risks that are less likely to happen and less attention on events that are more likely to happen. Cognitive factors like education level can overweight small probabilities and underweight large probabilities of climate risk perceptions. Stakeholder engagement in rain-gauge management for on-farm rainfall generation and co-production of climate services can enhance climate change perceptions of pastoralists resulting in a reduction in vulnerability to climate change. Increasing the rain-gauge network in pastoral areas could promote more scientific perceptions of climate change.

This paper provides evidence of gender differences in the access and control of resources and their relation to participation in rice-breeding activities among men and women farmers in southern Ghana. We used a mixed methods design which involved the use of qualitative data collected through focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) and quantitative data collection through a survey. Using data collected from 315 smallholder rice farmers, perception analyses and probit and multivariate regression were employed in the analyses. Our findings indicate that higher levels of education, experience in rice farming, a favorable dependency ratio, larger farm size, more rice plots, access to extension services, and involvement with financial organizations positively influence participation in rice-breeding activities. On the other hand, distance to market is found to have a negative impact on participation. Moreover, years of education, experience in rice farming, farm size, number of rice plots, dependency ratio, and distance to market were found to negatively influence the control of production resources among both male and female participants in rice-breeding activities. From both the quantitative and qualitative results, men had more access to productive resources than women. Insights from this study will enhance gender equity in promoting the participation of both men and women in rice varietal development activities.

Globally, gender inequalities constrain food security, with women often disproportionately affected. Women play a fundamental role in household food and nutrition security. The multiple roles women play in various areas of the food system are not always recognised. This oversight emerges from an overemphasis on one aspect of the food system, without considering how this area might affect or be affected by another aspect. This study aimed to draw on international commitments and treaties using content analysis to enhance the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Security food systems framework by integrating a gender perspective. The study found that generally, there is a consensus on specific actions that can be taken to advance gender equality at specific stages of the food system. However, governance and social systems constraints that are not necessarily part of the food system, but have a significant bearing on men and women’s capacity to effectively participate in the food system, need to be addressed. While the proposed conceptual framework has some limitations, it offers a foundation on which researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders can begin conceptualising the interconnectedness of gender barriers in the food system.

Gender Focal Persons (GFPs) are commonly recruited by organisations as part of institutional efforts to mainstream gender. Despite their wide usage, these structures often struggle to achieve the intended goals. The underlying factors that explain their limited success are not well understood; yet, this would inform strategies for institutionalising gender in research institutions. This paper traces the genesis and operationalisation of the gender focal person structures in Rwanda and Uganda national agricultural research organisations, to unearth factors influencing their performance. Results presented are based on document reviews and qualitative interviews with scientists, managers, and GFPs in the two organisations. We found that the GFPs hinged on individuals and donors, and operated in an ad hoc manner without streamlined procedures. The structures were not embedded in institutional frameworks, hence their low visibility within the organisations. They were characterized by informality, voluntarism, unclear terms of reference, and accountability frameworks. We conclude that the ineffective performance of the GFPs in both organisations is explained by the informal approach used to establish, operationalise, and nurture them. Institutionalising the structure would require that the pioneering champions and donors successfully negotiate the embedding of GFPs into the mainstream; eventually, guaranteeing allocation of adequate human and financial resources from national budgets, as well as the establishment of accountability systems.

Women empowerment in pursuit of gender equality has received much attention in agriculture and development practice literature. At the same time, there is increasing realization of the need for interventions that focus on masculinities in order to ensure sustainable transformation of social/gender relations in agricultural communities. However, a review of literature on women empowerment in agriculture over the period 2010 to 2022, targeting Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia revealed that notions of women empowerment and masculinities have been mostly studied and applied in agricultural research independent of each other and rarely in an interconnected manner. We argue that research and interventions on women empowerment without a masculinities lens pause a risk of ‘empowerment without transformation’ especially when root causes of unequal gender relations in farming communities are not challenged and/or are inadvertently reproduced.

Masculinities and femininities are closely interconnected with men and women farmers’ everyday lives; hence critical reflection on these interconnections should be central in gender training in agriculture. While a focus on men and masculinities is crucial for sustainable transformation of deep-rooted gender norms and practices that limit the attainment of gender equality, there are insufficient empirically tested pedagogical models for this purpose. We share a case study, the Gender Responsive Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation (GREAT) model, which incorporates masculinities in a feminist pedagogy. We use external monitoring, evaluation, and learning data for two case study courses that integrate gender in plant breeding, seed systems, and agronomy to demonstrate the efficacy of integrating the concept of masculinity and reflections on male farmers’ expectations, behaviors, and practices within a feminist approach to gender training. We conclude that feminist pedagogical practices offer insights into how gender training can integrate a masculinities perspective to move beyond divisive and narrow gender polarities towards addressing masculine norms that often hinder the attainment of gender transformation.