Isaacs, K and Weltzien, E and Some, H and Diallo, A and Diallo, B and Sidibé, M and Brocke, K Vom and Samake, B and Nebie, B and Rattunde, F W (2024) Increasing sorghum yields for smallholder farmers in Mali: the evolution towards a context-driven, on-farm, gender-responsive sorghum breeding program. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems (TSI), 8. pp. 1-15. ISSN 2571-581X
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Abstract
This case study explores a decades long evolution towards a gender-responsive sorghum breeding program in Mali. With known disparities in men and women’s access to the resources that improve agricultural productivity and evidence that gender roles and responsibilities shape knowledge and preferences about varieties, there is need for methods that support gender-responsive processes in plant breeding programs. Gender-sensitive and gender-responsive approaches in plant breeding may increase varietal options available to diverse end-users, increase adoption, and limit negative impacts on vulnerable populations. We assess a participatory plant breeding program in Mali to identify determinants of gender-responsive breeding programs. The analysis uses a case study methodology that draws upon project reports, theses, articles, and experiential knowledge to understand how the sorghum breeding program transitioned over time. This case study details (a) more than a decade of sorghum breeding activities and research that led to (b) the inclusion of women in participatory plant breeding, culinary tests, and large-scale participatory selection in onfarm trials, reaching hundreds of women each year and (c) iterative co-learning processes to develop preferred sorghum varieties and increase sorghum yields on men and women’s fields. Analyses indicated that collaborations among many institutions on-farm with community actors, research across various disciplines such as agronomy and social sciences, context-specific breeding, and longterm funding were essential to increasing gender sensitivity and responsive in the breeding efforts.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Divisions: | Research Program : West & Central Africa |
| CRP: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | gender, participatory plant breeding, sorghum, gender-responsive, seed |
| Subjects: | Mandate crops > Sorghum Others > Seeds/Seed Bank Others > Gender Research |
| Depositing User: | Mr Nagaraju T |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Sep 2024 05:14 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Sep 2024 05:14 |
| URI: | http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/12799 |
| Official URL: | https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-f... |
| Projects: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Funders: | Non-CGIAR Center Program Participant Agreement N° 5701-CGIA-07, Union Locale de Producteurs de Cereal de Dioila (ULPC), Association des Organisations Professionnelles Paysannes (AOPP), AMEDD, Helen Keller International, Collaborative Crops Research Program (CCRP) of The McKnight Foundation |
| Acknowledgement: | The authors are grateful to the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform and the International Potato Center (CIP) all supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund Contributors https://www.cgiar.org/funders/; and the Gender Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation GREAT partners who supported the documentation of this experience. The authors would also like to thank the farmer associations, farmers, and all the individuals that supported the Sorghum team in this decades long research and engagement. |
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