Download - Maize

While men are often regarded as household heads and the primary providers for families, women in
many maize‐based systems in Africa, Asia, and Latin America invariably contribute a major proportion of
the labor in planting, weeding, harvesting, and processing as well as adopting the role of the primary
caregiver for the family. Women often work longer hours than men and have much less access to land,
credit, information, or extension advice, yet female‐controlled income often correlates to better welfare
outcomes within the household.
Women’s access to key resources, including land, is commonly determined via their relationship to a
husband or father. The fact that women play a major role in production in smallholdings but may not
control the proceeds of their labor is detrimental to the wellbeing and food security of children and
other dependants. Examples such as the proactive inclusion of women and disadvantaged groups in
community‐based maize seed production in Nepal or during participatory variety selection in Ethiopia
and Mexico show that research can influence established community patterns for greater research‐fordevelopment
outcomes (Hellin et al., 2010; La Rovere et al., 2008 and 2009; Mathema and Gurung,
2006).
With an increasingly aging farming and agricultural research community, partners also strongly raise
their voice for more proactive engagement of younger professionals and farmers as they will to a great
extent determine the effectiveness and adoption of research‐for‐development interventions.
MAIZE will take specific steps to understand gender‐based dynamics and differences, and leverage this
knowledge so that interventions will address gender‐specific needs, promote options that create
opportunities and empower women and young adults; and foster strategies that change prevalent
attitudes and mindsets to enable equitable and inclusive growth. Building upon current activities, this
will be done through five main approaches:
Socioeconomics research under SI 1 will systematically assess and identify gender‐differentiated
technology needs, choices, impacts, and constraints to inform the design and targeting of new
technologies. SI 1 will also test mechanisms that enhance technology targeting, delivery and
equitable access for both men and women, and assess the impact of MAIZE interventions on the
welfare of men and women as well as on child nutrition and school enrollment. The researchers will
use the results to strengthen in all the other Initiatives the development of MAIZE technologies and
innovations that better meet the needs of women, reduce gender disparities, and engage women
more strongly in collaborative research and capacity building.
Farmer participatory research in system‐oriented and commodity‐specific MAIZE SIs will actively
promote the participation of women and young adults in innovation systems, technology testing,
and development—to both empower and ensure that their input is being included in on‐going
research. Female focus groups will be engaged to better understand gender roles and define how
MAIZE‐specific interventions may be used to expand livelihood opportunities for women and
children's education. As women shoulder the bulk of domestic responsibilities and are unable to
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