Gender Roles in the Wheat Production of Sudan: Strengthening the Participation of Women

Abstract

Three main impacts at the institutional level ensued through the integration of gender into SARD-SC Wheat Project in Sudan. The first was flexibility in responding to differing gender roles and needs in the different Innovation Platform (IP) sites including unprecedented focus on value addition and involving women in hosting and generating technologies. The second achievement was increased awareness on the importance of integrating women through increased knowledge about existing gender gaps and inequalities. The third impact was increased experiences in involving women through collaborations with multiple stakeholders (through the IP approach). Institutional norms related to a sustained focus on urban areas and limited involvement of women in agricultural interventions were challenged by finding new avenues to involve women6 in wheat programming including in value addition, roughing, and hosting of technologies. The project focused on improving gender relations at the household, community, and institutional levels in a safe and culturally appropriate way.