GENDER

TRANSFORMATIVE
TOOLKIT
JUNE 2021
V1.0
Contents
Click on any tool name below to access it

01 Toolkit Introduction
ᐧ Why consider gender transformation
ᐧ Why a gender transformative toolkit
ᐧ How to use this toolkit

02 Baseline Assessment Tools

ᐧ Gender diagnostics tool: how gender transformative is your organisation?
ᐧ Gender integration guide: how to design gender transformative investments
ᐧ Gender integration marker: how to assess gender intentionality in investments
ᐧ Partner selection tool: evaluating prospective partners and their gender lens status

Baseline Awareness Tools

03
ᐧ Gender concepts glossary: key concepts and terms to be aware of
ᐧ Case studies: examples of gender transformative work from the ecosystem

04 Data Collection & Analysis Tools

ᐧ Sex disaggregated data collection guide: best practices and indicators for data collection
ᐧ Sex disaggregated data analysis guide: best practices for data analysis

Gender Segmentation Tools

05
ᐧ Persona library, Kenya: common segments of women smallholder farmers in Kenya
ᐧ Persona library, Zambia: common segments of women smallholder farmers in Zambia
ᐧ Gender-inclusive persona profile: how to develop gender inclusive customer segments

06 Resource Framing Tools

ᐧ Gender responsive budgeting guide: best practices to create and allocate budgets based
on gender needs

07 Go-to-Market Tools
ᐧ Gender inclusive journey map: how to map customer interactions and experiences
ᐧ Gender inclusive business canvas: how to adapt a gender lens for business models

08 Monitoring, Learning, and Evaluation Tools

ᐧ Gender impact assessment guide: best practices and indicators to monitor and assess
impact of gender transformative activities
ᐧ Case study design template: how to socialise learnings and impact stories

09 Additional resources

10 Contact sheet

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 TOOLKIT X
INTRODUCTION

Are you looking to understand how to better

serve women farmers and address chronic
gender norms that reduce productive
opportunities for them?

Are you looking to understand how to be more

gender inclusive internally in your organization?

Are you looking to get started on your journey to

become gender transformative?

Then this toolkit is for you!

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Why consider gender transformation?

Agriculture, globally, is one of the sectors with significant disparities between men and
women in terms of access to inputs and resources. These gender gaps have contributed to
growing differences in productivities, incomes and resilience of men and women
smallholders. Gender transformative approaches in agriculture are critical to address existing
power and agency inequities between genders and address gender norms and barriers which
eventually lead to unequal access to natural and productive resources.

Mercy Corps’ policy on gender

Mercy Corps recognizes that our programs more effectively alleviate suffering, poverty and
oppression when women, men, girls and boys are equitably engaged as active stakeholders
in every aspect of the work we undertake together. Based on these observations, we have
developed a gender policy with a three-fold purpose: (1) To confirm and communicate that
gender equity is essential to our mission and Vision for Change (2) To establish goals and
principles for ensuring that gender equity is addressed consistently in our programs and
organizational culture (3) To provide guidance on implementing our commitment to gender
equity. Read more about our gender policy here.

Mercy Corps AgriFin’s vision for a gender transformative toolkit

Over the past several years, gender inclusion has been a focal area of AgriFin’s work in
developing and designing digital agriculture solutions for and with partners. While we have
had successes in reaching women farmers, we also understand there is more work that can
be done to support partners and ecosystem players to be gender intentional and gender
transformative. Gender transformation is a key strategic theme in Mercy Corps AgriFin’s next
stage of programming to overcome barriers faced by women, so that women farmers can
realize the benefit of digital agriculture solutions and enjoy increased productivity, higher
resilience and improved incomes and livelihoods.

Gender transformative approaches represent a shift in thinking about and approaching

gender inequities by addressing underlying gender barriers and norms to more
substantively and sustainably address gender inequalities.

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Why a gender transformative toolkit?

This gender transformative toolkit is intended to support farmer-facing organizations

leveraging digital tools to be informed, trained, and supported to adopt and use gender
transformative approaches, products, and services.

Purpose of this toolkit

The purpose is to share a collection of tools to support farmer-facing organizations to design
and deliver effective and inclusive products, services, and partnerships for women
smallholder farmers in Sub Saharan Africa. The journey to gender transformation is long and
there is no one size fits all approach for players in the digital agriculture ecosystem. This
toolkit is provided to help and inspire integration of gender into the work of our partner
organizations and other actors in the broader ecosystem and collaborate with them through
an iterative process that will see us develop and improve the toolkit with time.

This toolkit does not offer solutions. Instead it offers guidelines, worksheets and reading
materials to help you navigate through the process of incorporating the voice and needs of
women, both internal and external to your organization, to design solutions that improve the
agency and decision making power of women smallholders.

Gender transformative approaches are often a combination of various steps and activities.
This toolkit thus is a collection of tools that you can pick and choose and use in any
combination depending upon your needs, situation, and context.

We hope that the contents will serve as resources for the digital agriculture community and
inspire conversations and actions to develop more gender inclusive solutions. We invite users
to continuously share with us their feedback to enable constant enhancement of the toolkit.

The journey to gender transformation is long and unique for each organization. This
toolkit is intended to help and inspire gender mainstreaming into the work of our
partners and other actors in the broader ecosystem.

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 How to use this toolkit

To best use this toolkit we recommend users to begin with an understanding and an
assessment of their current status in the journey to be gender transformative. To do this
organizations can utilise the baseline assessment tools which are catered to both funders and
farmer facing organizations.

After developing an understanding of current gender lens status, organizations can use the
rest of the tools in a sequential or in a modular fashion depending upon organization specific
needs.

BASELINE ASSESSMENT TOOLS

Gender
Gender integration Gender integration Partner selection
diagnostics
guide marker tool
tool

GENDER BASELINE AWARENESS TOOLS

UNINTENTIONAL

Gender concepts glossary Case studies

DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS TOOLS

Sex-disaggregated Sex-disaggregated
data collection guide data analysis guide

GENDER GENDER SEGMENTATION TOOLS

INTENTIONAL

Persona libraries Gender-Inclusive

(Kenya & Zambia) persona profile template

RESOURCE FRAMING TOOLS

Gender-responsive budgeting guide

GENDER
GO-TO-MARKET TOOLS
TRANSFORMATIVE

Gender inclusive customer journey map Gender inclusive business canvas

MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING TOOLS

Gender impact assessment guide Case study design template

6
How to use this toolkit

As users navigate through the toolkit, they should take note of the iconography on each tool’s
navigation bar as shown below to best ascertain whether a tool is suited for their needs. The
navigation bar with useful icons is indicated on the right side of each tool.

Audience

Users of this toolkit will lie on the gender transformation continuum, from being gender
unintentional to gender intentional to gender transformative. We have adopted the definitions
used by the Gates Gender Equality Toolbox to define the three audience categories as below:

Gender unintentional refers to refers to an organisation that does not integrate a gender
lens and does not target gender gaps in its strategies, investments,product design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation, internal structures and organization culture.

Gender intentional refers to a gender aware organisation that designs its products, service
lines, and/or investments to reduce barriers in access to resources across genders or to
increase the information base and awareness around gender gaps.

Gender transformative refers to an organisation that aims to achieve gender empowerment

and equity designs its products, service lines, and/or investments to reduce barriers in not
only access to resources but also in agency and control over resources.

Wherever tools are catered specifically for funders (investors, grantmakers) it is indicated as
such.

Organizations will be able to understand which primary audience type they are by taking the
Gender Diagnostics tool assessment under baseline tools.

This icon on the navigation bar on each tool indicates the primary audience
type. This implies that the tool is recommended for the mentioned audience
based on assumptions of their gender lens status’ characteristics.

However, an organization should feel free to use a tool which is not indicated for them as
primary users if they believe the tool can help them in their business requirements.

7
How to use this toolkit

TOOL TYPE

This toolkit contains a mix of tool types which are intended to be able to support a large range
of organizations using this toolkit. Users will find the below tool types:

Worksheet tools which are participatory in nature and intended for teams to customise and
use as per their contexts. These tools are accompanied by guiding questions and pre-filled
examples to provide clarity of use.
Guide tools which provide best practices and tips
Reading materials tools which are intended to support knowledge and awareness building

This icon on the navigation bar indicates the type of tool.

REQUIREMENTS

Each tool provides a recommended list of core members / teams of an organization who
should be using the tool and if there are any experts required and an estimate of the time
required to engage with the tool and any key financial and technical resource requirements.

This icon on the navigation bar indicates the key members or teams in an
organization who should use this tool.

This icon on the navigation bar indicates an estimate of the time required to engage
with the tool once all background data and material is available.

TOOL STRUCTURE

Each tool has a description, directions of usage, use cases, navigation bar with icons on the
home page. Every tool ends with an associated mini glossary which provides definitions and
explanations of some of the key gender terms and concepts used in the tool.

Users should consult the tool homepage in detail to understand how to appropriately use the
tool and also any prerequisites for the same.

Whenever multiple tools are suggested to be used together, it is indicated on the homepage
with links that users can click to navigate between tools.

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 BASELINE
ASSESSMENT X

TOOLS
In this section we will introduce 4 tools that
you can leverage to understand the gender
transformation status of your own
organization or a partner organization and
what that means.

These tools can be used by various

organizations in the agriculture ecosystem;
from farmer facing organizations to funders.

These assessment tools, can be used for

purposes of internal organizational and
external business activities.

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Baseline assessment tools
Develop an assessment of status on gender transformation continuum

This section includes four tools to support understanding of gender lens statuses of
organizations and programs.
Click on each tool to access them directly.

GENDER DIAGNOSTICS TOOL

○ Questionnaire to assess any organization’s gender lens status based on

internal and external activities
○ Use this tool to understand your gender lens status and areas of
improvement

GENDER INTEGRATION GUIDE (A BMGF Tool)

○ Guide for funders to integrate gender lens in investments.

○ Use this tool to design gender inclusive investments

GENDER INTEGRATION MARKER (A BMGF Tool)

○ Guide for funders to assess the level of gender integration in a given

investment.
○ Use this tool to design gender inclusive investments

PARTNER SELECTION TOOL

○ Guide for funders to assess the gender lens of their prospective partners
and decide whether to engage with them or not
○ Use this tool to design gender inclusive partnerships

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Gender diagnostics tool
Primary audience
How gender transformative is your organisation? All

This gender diagnostics tool will help you understand where you are
in the journey towards being gender transformative and highlight
areas of internal and external operations where you can increase
Tool type
efforts to be gender transformative. Worksheet

Directions to use the diagnostic tool:

1. This tool should be completed by members of an organization

who have a broad understanding of various departments and
activities. We recommend you consult your colleagues if you Personnel
are unsure of activities in a specific department, as this will Key department heads,
Human resource teams
enable you to get a more accurate diagnostic.

2. There are 30 questions across 5 high level categories to

assess various levels of gender focus. For each question
answer “YES” or “NO” based on your understanding.
If you are unsure of the answer for any question or do not Duration
know the answer, select “NO”. 1-3 hours

3. Once you are done count the total number of ‘YES’ answers,
both for the entire set and for individual sections. GOALS
(1) Understand at what level
of gender transformation
4. Refer to the scoring rubric at the end of this tool to develop a your organization is.
deeper understanding of your current overall gender lens
status and also for specific sections. (2) Understand which areas
of internal and external
operations need more focus
5. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some
to be gender transformative.
commonly used terms in the tool which will aid in better
understanding of some of the questions.
REQUIREMENTS
While the tool guides a gender diagnostic assessment, it is key to (1) No additional investment
note that the path to gender transformation is likely to be unique and in terms of financial, human
long for most organizations. Thus, a pertinent first step is to always or technical resources.
understand current status and then take steps to move to the next (2) We recommend you
level. finish the questionnaire in
one sitting and attempt to
Funder can use this tool and its results to feed into their use of the answer them as accurately
Partner Selection Tool as they decide on engagements. Click here as possible.
to access the Partner Selection Tool. (3) If there are terms which
are unclear we suggest
referring to Gender concepts
glossary tool or consult your
Gender Advisor if you have
one.

11
Gender diagnostics tool
How gender transformative is your organisation?

INTERNAL ORGANIZATION ASSESSMENT

Assessing gender transformation within an organization’s internal operations

I. Staff gender diversity

1. Are >50% of your full time employees female? YES NO

2. Are >50% of your executive leaders female? YES NO

3. Are > 50% of your senior leaders female? YES NO

4. Do you have a recruiting strategy to target women? YES NO

5. Do you require a gender diverse pool of candidates for open YES NO

positions?

II. Parental, family, and caregiving support

6. Do you offer maternity leave? YES NO

7. Do you offer paternity leave? YES NO

8. Do you have a company policy that caters for flexible work YES NO
arrangements / hours for caregivers with dependents?

9. Do you offer comprehensive health insurance that caters to YES NO

female employees prenatal and postnatal healthcare?

III. Staff protection policies

10. Do you have an anti-sexual harassment policy? YES NO

11. Do you have a sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual YES NO

misconduct whistleblower protection policy?

12. Do you have policies and structures to monitor, create YES NO

awareness and / or address gender biases and microaggressions at
work (e.g., only female employees attending to office guests, male
employees speaking over female employees, etc.)?

13. Do you have a pay equity policy? YES NO

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Gender diagnostics tool
How gender transformative is your organisation?

EXTERNAL ORGANIZATION ASSESSMENT

Assessing gender transformation within an organization’s external operations

IV. Gender focussed training, support, data collection and use

14. Do you collect sex-disaggregated data for your business (e.g, YES NO
number of women vs men smallholders taking input loans, number of
women vs men smallholders engaging in digital learning content,
etc.)?

15. Do you use sex-disaggregated data to inform business decisions YES NO

(e.g., use sex disaggregated data analysis to offer new products or
improve service design features, etc.)?

16. Do you collect data to measure the impact of your activities on YES NO
women smallholders (e.g., increase in income, increase in yields,
increase in decision making power, etc.)?

17. Do you provide internal training on needs of women clients and YES NO
customers?

18. Do you provide internal training on how to incorporate a gender YES NO

lens across various business activities?

19. Do you have an in-house gender expert or gender advisor to YES NO

support training and provide gender expertise on business activities?

V. Partnerships, customer servicing, product offering

20. Do you have partnerships that specifically target outreach to YES NO

women smallholders?

21. Do you measure client or customer retention by gender? YES NO

22. Do you have targets for reaching women clients and customers? YES NO

23. Do you have policies to monitor ethical violations and collect YES NO
feedback from stakeholders, partners and community on any
violations (e.g.,violations of privacy and confidentiality in accessing
and using personal information of women smallholders)?

13
Gender diagnostics tool
How gender transformative is your organisation?

EXTERNAL ORGANIZATION ASSESSMENT

Assessing gender transformation within an organization’s external operations

V. Partnerships, customer servicing, product offering

24. Do your products or services address critical barriers that women YES NO
smallholders face (e.g., lack of collateral to access financing, access
to mobile services, cultural norms, behavioral barriers etc)?

25. While developing new products and services, do you consult YES NO
men and women smallholders separately to understand differences
in needs, behavior, and preferences?

26. Do you provide products, services, channels that specifically YES NO

target women smallholders?

27. Do your products or services lead to increased knowledge and YES NO

skills for women smallholders (e.g., digital literacy)?

28. Do your products or services support women smallholders’ bodily YES NO

integrity (e.g.,reduce gender based violence)?

29. Do your products or services support increased mobility and time YES NO
availability for women smallholders (e.g.,reduce the time required by
women to travel to access services)?

30. Do your products or services lead to increased access to YES NO

resources for women smallholders (e.g.,increased access to digital
markets. increased access to productive assets like land and water,
access to digital and financial services infrastructure)?

Congratulations! You have reached the end of the gender diagnostics tool.
Refer to the next page for the scoring rubric to calculate your scores and get
your gender transformation assessment and what that means for your
organization.

14
Gender diagnostics tool
How gender transformative is your organisation?

SCORING RUBRIC
After you have answered all questions, count the number of “YES” answers across each
section and the total questionnaire and refer to the scoring table below for results.
The sections where you have scored low, are the areas to focus on as you move towards
your journey towards being gender transformative.

Sectional scores Number of

Gender lens result
(total number of sections with
& significance for your organisation
‘YES’ answers) this score

GENDER TRANSFORMATIVE
All sections As a gender transformative organization you have
score equal to already taken several initiatives to put gender at the
Section I: >= 4
above these heart of your internal and external operations. At this
Section II: >= 4
thresholds stage it is likely that your organization understands and
Section III: =3
truly imbibes the need to be gender transformative and
Section IV: >= 4
AND as such is reflected in your internal and external
Section V: >= 7
operations. You are likely to be taking or having
Total score is considered various activities which address the causes
Total score: 20 - 30
above the of gender-based inequalities and are working to
threshold transform harmful gender roles, norms, and power
relations.

GENDER INTENTIONAL
All other
As a gender intentional organization you have already
Section I: 2 - 3 combinations of
begun your journey on gender transformation. As this
Section II: 2 - 3 section scores
current stage your organization has taken some of the
Section III: 1 - 2
necessary steps to understand and address the
Section IV: 2 - 3 AND
difference in constraints men and women face in the
Section V: 2 - 6
agriculture value chains. You are likely to be aware of
Total score is
various gender inequalities that exist and acknowledge
Total score: 10 - 19 within the
that women’s and men’s needs and behaviours are
threshold
different and specific.

Any two
GENDER UNINTENTIONAL
sections score
As a gender unintentional organization you are just
Section I: <= 1 less than or
beginning your journey on gender transformation. As
Section II: <= 1 equal to these
this current stage your organization does not fully take
Section III: = 0 thresholds
all necessary steps to understand and address the
Section IV: <= 1
difference in constraints men and women face in the
Section V: <= 1 AND
agriculture value chains. You are likely to be ignoring
gender norms, discrimination and inequalities in your
Total score: 0 - 9 Total score is
business activities and may be unintentionally
less than
perpetuating gender inequalities.
threshold

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Gender diagnostics tool
How gender transformative is your organisation?

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Gender mainstreaming / integration is a process that involves embedding of a

gender perspective into the entire spectrum of an organization’s activities including
its strategies, structures, policies, culture, systems and operations. It ensures that
the needs and interests of all genders are included in the design, implementation,
and M&E of any planned activity

Gender lens refers to a perspective that aims to identify and understand gendered
power differences and biases among different groups in economic, social and legal
contexts by analysing the relationship between different gendered groups, their
access to resources and opportunities, and the constraints they face relative to each
other.

Gender/ social norms are collectively held standards to which people are expected
to conform at different stages of their lives based on their sex or gender identity.
These are norms that seek to represent beliefs and values of what it means to male
or female in different societal contexts. E.g., gendered expectations for women to
engage in unpaid caregiving work limits their time to engage in productive
agricultural activities.

Gender gap refers to the disparity in men and women’s social, political, intellectual
cultural and/or economic condition or position in society, often based on underlying
socio-cultural norms. It reflects the unequal distribution of resources, opportunities
and outcomes across genders. E.g., women smallholder farmers have less access to
digital financial services indicating a gender gap in access to resources.

Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced

actions or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their
perceived gender. E.g., male farm laborers hired by women farm owners are likely to
be less hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived strictness of women.

Sex disaggregated data refers to quantitative and qualitative data collected and
presented by sex that allows for measurement of socio-economic and socio-cultural
differences between men and women. E.g., collection of data on the number of
women and men smallholder farmers that use digital tools for agriculture separately
in order to measure the gendered differences in uptake of digital services.

16
Gender integration guide
How to design gender transformative investments - A BMGF Tool Primary audience
Funders

This gender integration guide was originally created by the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation as a part of their Gender Equality
Toolbox. We have recreated the tool in this toolkit for ease of use,
users are advised to refer to the original tool linked at the bottom of Tool type
this page. Guide

This guide focuses on the investment design phase, where the

investment makers are encouraged to incorporate a gender lens to
contribute to the success and impact of a project.
Personnel
This tool is primarily meant for funders (grantmakers, investors) as Investment analysts
they strive to design gender inclusive investments.

Directions to use the integration guide:

1. This tool should be completed by members of an investment

Duration
committee and members who have a deep understanding of 2-4 hours
the prospective partner’s business activities. We recommend
you use this guide with your partners ideally in the concept
development phase before a full proposal is developed.
GOALS
(1) Design gender
2. It is recommended that this is used in conjunction with the transformative investments
Gender Integration Marker to guide the assignment of a and understand your
category for each investment. Access the Gender Integration prospective
Marker guide here. grantee/investee’s current
standing towards gender
transformation.
3. Use the key questions in the tool to understand how gender
impacts a given investment and guide discussions with (2) Guide discussions with
partners to shape the investment. partners before concept
development.
4. Using the prompts and questions, uncover areas of
opportunity where a gender lens can be incorporated into the REQUIREMENTS
investment design. (1) No additional investment
in terms of financial, human
or technical resources.
5. This tool can also support the Gender Impact Assessment
guide here. (2) We recommend you
finish the questionnaire in
6. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some one sitting and answer as
accurately as possible.
commonly used terms in the tool which will aid in better
understanding of some of the questions. (3) If there are terms which
are unclear refer to the
For more information, click HERE to access the Gender Integration Gender concepts glossary or
Guide by the Gates Gender Equality Toolbox. consult your Gender Advisor

17
Gender integration guide
How to design gender transformative investments - A BMGF Tool

GUIDING QUESTIONS TO DESIGN GENDER TRANSFORMATIVE INVESTMENTS

To understand how gender affects a certain investment and to design gender integrated
solutions, funders can use the below questions and prompts to incorporate a gender lens in
the investment design. We recommend users to read through the BMGF gender integration
guide for the original tool and also for other related reading material.

(A) PROBLEM: What problem does this investment target?

To integrate a gender lens, look for:

● Is there a clear articulation of the problem that the intervention, technology or product
is trying to solve?
● Is there an analysis of the social context of the problem?

(B) POPULATION: Who is affected by this problem?

To integrate a gender lens, look for:

● Is there an analysis of who is most affected by this problem and/or will most benefit
most from the proposed solution?
● How does the problem differentially affect people based on their social and
demographic characteristics– e.g. age, sex, gender identity, ability, status, race, class,
ethnicity, sexual orientation, migratory status, etc.?

(C) CONTEXT: What is the gendered context in which the problem exists?

To integrate a gender lens, look for:

● Is there a gender analysis that was conducted? This would be demonstrated by a
context analysis that identifies the different barriers, challenges and opportunities that
people face with regard to the problem because of their gender. If no formal gender
analysis was conducted, you can request one be included in the start up phase of the
investment in order to establish and update design as needed to address:
○ differences in how people experience the problem because of their gender.
○ additional challenges that result from the intersection of gender barriers with
other forms of discrimination that further determine how people experience the
problem (intersectionality).
○ references to primary and secondary data on gender differences in access to
(the opportunity to use a resource), use of, control over (the capacity to make
decisions about who uses resources, how they are used and how to dispose of
it) and agency over (the capacity to control resources, free from threats,
violence or retribution) relevant resources in the specific context.

18
Gender integration guide
How to design gender transformative investments - A BMGF Tool

GUIDING QUESTIONS TO DESIGN GENDER TRANSFORMATIVE INVESTMENTS

To understand how gender affects a certain investment and to design gender integrated
solutions, funders can use the below questions and prompts to incorporate a gender lens in
the investment design. We recommend users to read through the BMGF gender integration
guide for the original tool and also for other related reading material.

(C) CONTEXT: What is the gendered context in which the problem exists?

● Is there a gender analysis that was conducted? This would be demonstrated by a

context analysis that identifies the different barriers, challenges and opportunities that
people face with regard to the problem because of their gender. If no formal gender
analysis was conducted, you can request one be included in the start up phase of the
investment in order to establish and update design as needed to address:
○ descriptions of the gender differences related to who makes decisions relevant
to the problem and also to the intervention, technology or product, e.g., design
of services or products, access to transportation, household activities, spending
on services or products, service utilization, design of policy, design of market
strategies, design and implementation of research activities, gender dynamics in
the implementing team, etc.
○ descriptions of relevant gender differences in time use that relate to the
problem.
○ an analysis of how institutional policies and practices (public or private) reinforce
or challenge gender inequalities.

(D) GENDER GAPS AND BARRIERS: What are the relevant gender gaps and barriers
affecting this problem?

To integrate a gender lens, look for:

● Is there a clear articulation of gender gaps/barriers in access to and/or in
control/agency over resources?
● Is there a clear articulation of how people may benefit differently from an intervention,
technology or product because of their gender?.
● Is there data supporting the identification of gender gaps and barriers?.
● Is there a clear articulation of how these gender gaps and barriers relate to the desired
sectoral outcomes?
● Is there an explanation of how these gaps were prioritized in determining the proposed
solution(s)?

19
Gender integration guide
How to design gender transformative investments - A BMGF Tool

GUIDING QUESTIONS TO DESIGN GENDER TRANSFORMATIVE INVESTMENTS

To understand how gender affects a certain investment and to design gender integrated
solutions, funders can use the below questions and prompts to incorporate a gender lens in
the investment design. Users are recommended to read through the BMGF gender integration
guide for detailed prompting questions.

(E) SOLUTION: How does the proposed solution integrate a gender lens?

To integrate a gender lens, look for:

● Does the proposed solution address the prioritized gender gaps and barriers in
access to resources or increases the evidence base around these.
○ a clear plan of how the approach will address the prioritized gender gaps and
barriers in access to resources, or increase the evidence base around these.
○ an articulation of how the proposed scope, approach and planned activities or
research will account for gender gaps and barriers in access to resources. For
example by suggesting different gender specific approaches to reaching
investment participants without exacerbating gender inequalities.
● Does it provide a description and analysis of the potential risks (unintended
consequences) that may arise from targeting gender gaps or gender inequality.
○ a strategy for mitigating or avoiding these potential risks, including indicators
to monitor whether the identified risks happen.
● Does it include activities and outputs that engage men, or research their potential
role, in the achievement of gender equality outcomes and that result in benefits for
all.
● Does it include activities and outputs that address how the problem affects people of
different ages, e.g. engaging and/ or benefitting children will require different activities
than those involving adults.
● Does it address specific outcomes and outputs in the results framework that set clear
targets for the reduction of gender gaps in access to resources or for the increase of
the evidence base around gender gaps/ barriers.
● Does it include a plan to measure changes in the identified gender gaps and barriers
and how these changes affect progress towards sectoral outcomes. Specifically:
○ a plan to collect and report sex disaggregated data.
○ a plan to collect relevant data on gender gaps and barriers and their links to
sectoral outcomes to assess progress, inform midcourse corrections (as
needed) and ultimately show who has been effectively reached with which
services/products.
○ a plan for how the analysis of the data on gender gaps will inform the project
progress and outcomes.

20
Gender integration guide
How to design gender transformative investments - A BMGF Tool

GUIDING QUESTIONS TO DESIGN GENDER TRANSFORMATIVE INVESTMENTS

To understand how gender affects a certain investment and to design gender integrated
solutions, funders can use the below questions and prompts to incorporate a gender lens in
the investment design. Users are recommended to read through the BMGF gender integration
guide for detailed prompting questions.

(E) SOLUTION: How does the proposed solution integrate a gender lens?

To integrate a gender lens, look for:

● Does the solution include a gender expertise in the implementation/partner team.
Specifically:
○ the staff identified have the appropriate skill set and position, i.e., that they
have experience conducting gender analysis and integrating gender in
program design and have technical knowledge of the sector of this investment.
○ staff with gender expertise have dedicated time to support the investment.
○ if there is no gender expertise on staff or it is not sufficient, look for a plan to
obtain expertise on staff or through partnering with other organizations or
persons with proven expertise in gender analysis and/or integration

If aiming to push gender integration further to design a gender transformative investment,

look for all items described above AND also:

● a clear articulation of how underlying gender power relations and gender gaps in
control or agency over resources affect how people experience the problem and also
how addressing them may strengthen the investment.
● an explicit intention to address underlying gender power relations and gender gaps in
agency over resources, for example,
○ setting outcomes and outputs that aim to increase women and girls’
empowerment. − engaging local partners that have experience working to
transform unequal gender power relations.
○ engaging decision-makers and stakeholders at all levels to support the
investment’s focus on transforming gender power relations.

21
Gender integration guide
How to design gender transformative investments - A BMGF Tool

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Gender mainstreaming / integration is a process that involves embedding of a

gender perspective into the entire spectrum of an organization’s activities including its
strategies, structures, policies, culture, systems and operations. It ensures that the
needs and interests of all genders are included in the design, implementation, and M&E
of any planned activity
Gender lens refers to a perspective that aims to identify and understand gendered
power differences and biases among different groups in economic, social and legal
contexts by analysing the relationship between different gendered groups, their access
to resources and opportunities, and the constraints they face relative to each other.
Gender/ social norms are collectively held standards to which people are expected to
conform at different stages of their lives based on their sex or gender identity. These
are norms that seek to represent beliefs and values of what it means to male or female
in different societal contexts. E.g., gendered expectations for women to engage in
unpaid caregiving work limits their time to engage in productive agricultural activities.
Gender gap refers to the disparity in men and women’s social, political, intellectual
cultural and/or economic condition or position in society, often based on underlying
socio-cultural norms. It reflects the unequal distribution of resources, opportunities and
outcomes across genders. E.g., women smallholder farmers have less access to digital
financial services indicating a gender gap in access to resources.
Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced
actions or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their
perceived gender. E.g., male farm laborers hired by women farm owners are likely to
be less hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived strictness of women.
Sex disaggregated data refers to quantitative and qualitative data collected and
presented by sex that allows for measurement of socio-economic and socio-cultural
differences between men and women. E.g., collection of data on the number of women
and men smallholder farmers that use digital tools for agriculture separately in order to
measure the gendered differences in uptake of digital services.

22
Gender integration marker
Primary audience
How to assess gender intentionality in investments – A BMFG tool
Funders

This gender integration marker was originally created by the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation as a part of their Gender Equality
Toolbox. We have recreated the tool in this toolkit for ease of use,
Tool type
users are advised to refer to the original tool linked at the bottom of Worksheet
this page.

This gender integration marker is aimed to help assess the level of

gender integration within the design of an investment. This tool is
primarily meant for funders (grantmakers, investors) as they strive to
design gender inclusive investments. Personnel
Investment analysts,
Investment committee
Directions to use the integration marker:

1. This tool should be completed by members of an investment

committee.

2. There are 7 questions to assess various levels of gender Duration

integration. For questions 1- 6 answer “YES” or “NO” based 1-2 hours
on your understanding and explain your answers.
GOALS
3. Count the number of “YES” answers. If the count is 3 or
(1) Assess the your level of
more, the investment is likely gender intentional or gender integration within the
transformative. Continue to step 3. If the count is fewer than design of an investment.
3 the investment is gender unintentional. Skip to step 5.
(2) Realize your vision of
becoming gender intentional
4. Answer question 7 and explain your response.
by strategically applying a
gender lens in your
5. If you answered “YES” to question 7, the investment is investments, strategies and
gender transformative. If you answered “NO” to question 7, operational functions.
the investment is gender intentional.

6. Mark correct final category of investment based on this REQUIREMENTS

assessment. (1) No additional investment
in terms of financial, human
7. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some or technical resources.
commonly used terms in the tool which will aid in better
(2) We recommend you
understanding of some of the questions. finish the questionnaire in
one sitting and attempt to
For more information, click here to access the Gender Integration answer them as accurately
Marker by Gates Gender Equality Toolbox. as possible.

(3) If there are terms which

are unclear we suggest
referring to Gender concepts
glossary tool or consult your
Gender Advisor if you have
one.

23
Gender integration marker
How to assess gender intentionality in investments – A BMFG tool

GUIDING QUESTIONS TO ASSESS THE LEVEL OF GENDER INTENTIONALITY IN

INVESTMENT DESIGN

To understand if your investment is gender intentional or transformative, funder can use the
below questions and prompts to assess their level of gender intentionality:

GENDER INTEGRATION ASSESSMENT

Step 1: Answer questions 1-6 and explain your responses

1. Is advancing gender equality and/or women and girls’ YES NO

empowerment the main objective of this investment?

Explain:

2. Is there a primary outcome that intends to contribute to the YES NO

reduction of gender barriers and/or gender gaps in access to
resources?

If yes, which gender gap or barrier? Explain:

3. Will the investment measure its contribution to a reduction in YES NO

gender barriers and/or gender gaps? (e.g., through the collection
and monitoring of sex-disaggregated data, etc.)

Explain:

4. Has the design of the investment, or will the implementation of the YES NO
investment, be informed by a gender analysis? (A critical and
systematic examination of differences in the constraints and
opportunities available to an individual or group of individuals based
on their sex, gender, and/or other markers of identity

Explain:

24
Gender integration marker
How to assess gender intentionality in investments – A BMFG tool

GUIDING QUESTIONS TO ASSESS THE LEVEL OF GENDER INTENTIONALITY IN

INVESTMENT DESIGN

To understand if your investment is gender intentional or transformative, funder can use the
below questions and prompts to assess their level of gender intentionality:

GENDER INTEGRATION ASSESSMENT

Step 1: Answer questions 1-6 and explain your responses

5. Will the implementation team include someone with significant YES NO

expertise in gender equality programming who is dedicated to
ensuring effective gender integration?

Explain:

6. Have potential gender-related negative consequences that may YES NO

arise from this investment been identified and have appropriate
mitigation strategies been developed? (e.g., increasing labor without
increasing returns, loss of control of an asset as it becomes more
valuable, gender-related backlash or violence, etc.)

Explain:

Step 2: Count the number of “YES” answers. If the count is 3 or more, the investment is likely
gender intentional or transformative. Continue to step 3. If it is fewer than 3, the investment is
gender unintentional. Skip to step 5.

Step 3: Answer question 7 and explain your response.

7. Is there a primary outcome that contributes to the reduction of YES NO
gender barriers and/or gender gaps in agency over resources and is
there at least one indicator to measure this? (e.g., control over the
use of resources)

Explain:

25
Gender integration marker
How to assess gender intentionality in investments – A BMFG tool

GUIDING QUESTIONS TO ASSESS THE LEVEL OF GENDER INTENTIONALITY IN

INVESTMENT DESIGN

To understand if your investment is gender intentional or transformative, funder can use the
below questions and prompts to assess their level of gender intentionality:

Step 4: If you answered “YES” to question 7, the investment is gender transformative. If you
answered “NO” to question 7, the investment is gender intentional.

FINAL ASSESSMENT
Step 5: Mark the correct category based on this assessment

Gender Unintentional Gender Intentional Gender Transformative

Explain (optional):

26
Gender integration marker
How to assess gender intentionality in investments – A BMFG tool

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Gender mainstreaming / integration is a process that involves embedding of a

gender perspective into the entire spectrum of an organization’s activities including its
strategies, structures, policies, culture, systems and operations. It ensures that the
needs and interests of all genders are included in the design, implementation, and M&E
of any planned activity

Gender lens refers to a perspective that aims to identify and understand gendered
power differences and biases among different groups in economic, social and legal
contexts by analysing the relationship between different gendered groups, their access
to resources and opportunities, and the constraints they face relative to each other.

Gender/ social norms are collectively held standards to which people are expected to
conform at different stages of their lives based on their sex or gender identity. These
are norms that seek to represent beliefs and values of what it means to male or female
in different societal contexts. E.g., gendered expectations for women to engage in
unpaid caregiving work limits their time to engage in productive agricultural activities.

Gender gap refers to the disparity in men and women’s social, political, intellectual
cultural and/or economic condition or position in society, often based on underlying
socio-cultural norms. It reflects the unequal distribution of resources, opportunities and
outcomes across genders. E.g., women smallholder farmers have less access to digital
financial services indicating a gender gap in access to resources.

Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced

actions or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their
perceived gender. E.g., male farm laborers hired by women farm owners are likely to
be less hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived strictness of women.

Sex disaggregated data refers to quantitative and qualitative data collected and
presented by sex that allows for measurement of socio-economic and socio-cultural
differences between men and women. E.g., collection of data on the number of women
and men smallholder farmers that use digital tools for agriculture separately in order to
measure the gendered differences in uptake of digital services.

27
Partner selection tool
Primary audience
How to evaluate prospective partners and their gender lens status Funders

This partner selection tool is intended for funders (investors,

grantmakers) to develop a deeper understanding of the current
gender transformative status of their prospective partner
Tool type
organizations. Worksheet

This tool was originally created to be used by Mercy Corps AgriFin

in their partner selection and can be adopted by similar
organizations based on needs.

Directions to use the partner selection tool: Personnel

Grantmaking committee,
Partner liaisons
1. We recommend this tool is used early in the partner
selection process to understand if they align with your
organization’s gender transformation mission and if they can
be engaged with further.

2. This tool should be completed by members of the Duration

grantmaking / investing institution, including (but not limited 1-3 hours
to) investment committee members, technical team
members who have deeper understanding of partner
GOALS
organizations and a gender advisor.
(1) Assess at what level of
gender transformation your
3. There are 5 high level categories to assess each partner prospective organization is.
organization and users of this tool should score each partner
organization from a range of 0-2. (2) Understand which
partners to onboard and
engage, which ones to watch
4. Once you are done count and the sum the total scores and which ones to decline
across all categories. partnerships with..

5. Refer to the scoring rubric at the end of this tool to develop a

deeper understanding of the current overall gender lens
REQUIREMENTS
status of prospective partners and how to engage with them (1) No additional investment
or not. in terms of financial, human
or technical resources.
6. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some
commonly used terms in the tool which will aid in better (2) For some categories, you
might need to coordinate
understanding of some of the questions. with the partners to gather
sufficient information.
This tool can be used with the Gender Diagnostics Tool which
allows organizations to gather understanding of their own gender (3) If there are terms which
lens status. Click HERE to access the gender diagnostics tool and are unclear we suggest
referring to Gender concepts
ask your partners to fill it up and provide you with the final results. glossary tool or consult your
Gender Advisor if you have
one.

28
Partner selection tool
How to evaluate prospective partners and their gender lens status

PARTNER ORGANIZATION ASSESSMENT

Assessing gender transformation progress and intent in a partner organization’s internal and
external activities and business operations.

PARTNER
SCORING SCORE (select
CATEGORY KEY CONSIDERATIONS
CHART appropriate
score)

I. Service offerings: Does the potential partner’s product/service solve an identified

challenge faced by women smallholder farmers? (If the answer is no, consideration process
stops here)

Prospective partner’s products

and/or service(s) address an
2
identified challenge facing
women smallholder farmers

Prospective partner is planning to

Prospective
introduce products and/or
partner
service(s) that address an 1
products and/or
identified challenge facing
service(s)
women smallholder farmers

Prospective partner’s products

and/or service(s) do not address
0
an identified challenge facing
women smallholder farmers

II. Gender lens status: What is the potential partners current gender lens status? Potential
partners’ gender lens status will be determined after conducting a baseline assessment using
the gender diagnostic tool.

Prospective partner is gender

2
transformative

Current gender Prospective partner is gender

1
lens status intentional

Prospective partner is gender

0
unintentional

29
Partner selection tool
How to evaluate prospective partners and their gender lens status

PARTNER ORGANIZATION ASSESSMENT

Assessing gender transformation progress and intent in a partner organization’s internal and
external activities and business operations.

PARTNER
SCORING SCORE (select
CATEGORY KEY CONSIDERATIONS
CHART appropriate
score)

III. Gender strategy: Does the potential partner have a gender

strategy/is developing or planning to adopt one?

Prospective partner has a

2
gender lens strategy

Prospective partner does not

have a gender strategy but is
Gender lens 1
developing/planning to adopt
strategy status one

Prospective partner does not

have a gender strategy and does 0
not plan to develop/adopt one

IV. Intent to adopt a gender strategy: Is the potential partner willing to

adopt a gender transformative strategy?

Prospective partner is willing to

commit time and/or resources to
2
adopt a gender transformative
strategy now

Prospective partner does not

intend to adopt a gender
Intent 1
transformative strategy now but
is open to one in the future

Prospective partner does not

intend to adopt a gender
0
transformative strategy now and
is not open to one in the future

30
Partner selection tool
How to evaluate prospective partners and their gender lens status

PARTNER ORGANIZATION ASSESSMENT

Assessing gender transformation progress and intent in a partner organization’s internal and
external activities and business operations.

PARTNER
SCORING SCORE (select
CATEGORY KEY CONSIDERATIONS
CHART appropriate
score)

V. Gender related KPIs tracked, and data collected: Does the potential partner track
relevant gender related KPIs, collect, analyze and use gender disaggregated data in decision
making?

Prospective partner collects,

analyzes and applies gender
2
disaggregated data in decision
making

Collection, Prospective partner does not

analysis collect, analyze and apply
and application gender disaggregated data in 1
of gender decision making but is planning
disaggregated to do so
data
Prospective partner does not
collect, analyze and apply
gender disaggregated data in 0
decision making and does not
plan to do so

Congratulations! You have reached the end of the partner selection tool. Refer
to the next page for the scoring rubric to calculate scores and understand
whether or not to engage with relevant partner organization for whom you just
completed this assessment.

31
Partner selection tool
How to evaluate prospective partners and their gender lens status

SCORING RUBRIC
After you have answered all questions, count and sum up the total scores and refer to the
scoring table below for results.

Partner selection results

Total score
and significance to further engagement

10 - 6 Engage: There is clear added value that the potential partner

can bring to the partner cohort and to your organization. There
are likely a few areas of improvement that can be addressed
through further support from you. This will include
organisations that score reasonably high (6 - 7) and are really
keen to improve.

5-3 Watch: There is likely moderate value add that the candidates
can bring to the partner cohort and to your organization. There
are likely significant areas of improvement the potential
partners needs to first address before you consider any further
engagement. You can also opt for further analysis of the
candidates and consider stepping in to accelerate
improvement to increase their potential additionality.

2-0 Decline: There is likely limited value add that the candidates
for potential partner can bring to the partner cohort and to your
organization. Your support would likely do little to nudge the
potential partner’s overall approach towards a gender
transformative one.

KEY FACTORS THAT DRAW A REDLINE FOR PARTNER SELECTION

● Relevant service offerings and intent to adopt a gender transformative strategy are
non negotiable factors regardless of the score i.e. partners who currently and plan to
only focus on men farmers should be excluded
● Partners would not fit with your gender goals if (i) their products and/or service(s) do
not address an identified challenge facing women smallholder farmers (ii) they are not
open to adopting a gender transformative strategy
● Scores below 4 for across the selection of criteria for partners should result in partners
not going forward with engagement

32
Partner selection tool
How to evaluate prospective partners and their gender lens status

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Gender mainstreaming / integration is a process that involves embedding of a

gender perspective into the entire spectrum of an organization’s activities including its
strategies, structures, policies, culture, systems and operations. It ensures that the
needs and interests of all genders are included in the design, implementation, and
M&E of any planned activity.

Gender lens refers to a perspective that aims to identify and understand gendered
power differences and biases among different groups in economic, social and legal
contexts by analysing the relationship between different gendered groups, their
access to resources and opportunities, and the constraints they face relative to each
other.

Gender intentional refers to a gender aware organisation that designs its products,
service lines, and/or investments to reduce barriers in access to resources across
genders or to increase the information base and awareness around gender gaps. E.g.,
an agri-input loan provider designs shorter tenure loans linked to savings products to
cater to the researched needs of female smallholder farmers.

Gender unintentional refers to an organisation that does not integrate a gender lens
and does not target gender gaps in its strategies, investments,product design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation, internal structures and organization
culture. E.g., an agri-input loan provider that does not consider the differences in
borrowing behaviour and needs of women while designing credit products and
acquiring customers.

Gender transformative refers to an organisation that aims to achieve gender

empowerment and equity designs its products, service lines, and/or investments to
reduce barriers in not only access to resources but also in agency and control over
resources. E.g.,an agri-input loan provider can incorporate strategies to reach out to
include women smallholder customers to make the final decision on loan disbursal
after approval without spousal consent, thus increasing women’s agency and decision
making power.

33
 BASELINE
AWARENESS X

TOOLS
In this section we will introduce 2 tools that
will provide support to your organization to
learn more about and increase awareness
about gender transformation concepts and
evidences from the ecosystem.

These tools are both in reading material

formats and as such can be used with
internal and external stakeholders to create
awareness around gender inclusion and start
conversations on the same.

34
Baseline awareness tools
Build a case and develop an understanding of gender transformation

This section includes two tools to support learning and exploration of gender concepts.
Click on each tool to access them directly.

GENDER CONCEPTS GLOSSARY

○ Key gender transformation related concepts to create base knowledge

and awareness
○ Use this tool to create awareness and spark conversations around
gender inclusion with internal and external stakeholders

CASE STUDIES

○ Short, summarised case studies across sectors and geographies to

provide evidence from the ecosystem on why gender integration is
important, how to go about integrating gender and what is the impact of
such activities.
○ Use this tool to disseminate evidence and awareness among internal and
external stakeholders.

35
Gender concepts glossary
Primary audience
Key concepts and terms to be aware of All

This gender concepts glossary intended to provide an understanding

of key gender concepts and their intersection with agriculture.
Tool type
We encourage you to refer to a broader set of resources at the end Reading material
of the toolkit to further expand your and your team’s understanding of
gender related concepts

Directions to use the gender concepts glossary:

1. This tool can be used as a awareness creation document for Personnel

an organization’s internal training and awareness purposes. Any/all
Wherever applicable, the glossary provides relevant
agriculture related examples, however, to fully engage with
the tool as an educational document, users are encouraged to
think about applying the concepts to their own contexts.

2. This tool can also be used in a piecemeal approach by Duration

referring to relevant terms as and when confusions arise while 1-5 hours
referring to other tools in this toolkit. All other tools in the
toolkit have an accompanying list of relevant concepts and
GOALS
explanations and for further reading users can always come
(1) Understand the language
back to this main glossary tool. used in other tools and
broadly in the area of gender
3. The terms and concepts in this glossary are not exhaustive transformative approaches.
and only cover the key concepts relevant to digital agriculture.
(2) Create a common and
At the end of the toolkit a detailed list of other public source
shared understanding of
glossaries are listed which users can refer to for further gender concepts and help
knowledge development. cascade the same within
your organization..
4. The glossary is divided into 3 main sections: (A) core gender
concepts (B) gender issues (C) gender opportunity areas, and
(D) agriculture X gender concepts. Users can encouraged to REQUIREMENTS
start with any section that most suits their current needs. For (1) No additional investment
users interacting with gender terms the first time it is in terms of financial, human
recommended to study the sections in chronological order. or technical resources.

(2) To fully engage with this

tool for training purposes
organizations might need to
devote additional time and
resources into a Gender
Expert or Advisor if not
already available.

36
Gender concepts glossary
Key concepts and terms to be aware of

(A) CORE GENDER CONCEPTS

These are concepts which are core and central to developing any deeper insights into gender
transformative approaches. If you or anyone in your organization is encountering gender
concepts or gender transformative approaches for the first time, we recommend you read
through these concepts at the bare minimum to develop a sound understanding.

It is also highly recommended that members of an organization discuss these concepts to

test if everyone has a collective and robust understanding.

A clear understanding of these common terms among all members of an organization is also
highly important to address any inherent biases which might impact interactions with various
customer groups etc.

1. Gender refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially
constructed. This includes norms, behaviours and roles associated with being a
woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a social construct,
it varies across societies and over time. Gender is a relational concept that is best
understood by examining interactions between individuals and social groups.

For more details: World Health Organization, UNICEF

2. Gender identity / expression - Gender identity refers to an individual’s innermost

perception of themselves as either male, female, intersex, or neither. This perception
could either be the same or vary from the individual’s sex at birth. Gender expression is
the outward appearance of one’s identity through aspects such as clothing or behaviour
that may or may not conform to socially prescribed gender norms.

For more details: Human Rights Campaign

3. Sex refers to a person’s biological status and is typical categorized as male, female, or
intersex. It is typically assigned at birth and refers to physical and biological indicators
including hormones, sex chromosomes, internal reproductive organs, and external
genatilia. Sex and gender are often conflated leading to the erroneous notion that
gender norms and roles are bilogically determined and cannot be changed.

For more details: American Psychological Association

4. Sexual orientation refers to how an individual chooses to define their romantic and/or
sexual interest and attraction to another person, who could either be of a different sex,
the same sex, or more than one sex. Examples of sexual orientation include but are not
limited to straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual, androsexual, among others.

For more details: Criterion Institute

37
Gender concepts glossary
Key concepts and terms to be aware of

(B) GENDER ISSUES

These are concepts which provide a deeper understanding of the nature of gender issues
and pain points that exist across businesses and society and impact all types of agriculture
service providers.

A clear understanding of these concepts is especially important while trying to (re)design

products and services for women smallholders, as a deeper understanding of gender issues
and pain points can enable creation of solutions which eventually address issues of agency
and decision making power.

1. Gender gap refers to the disparity in men and women’s social, political, intellectual
cultural and/or economic condition or position in society, often based on underlying
socio-cultural norms. It reflects the unequal distribution of resources, opportunities and
outcomes across genders. For instance, women smallholder farmers have less
access to digital financial services indicating a gender gap in access to
resources.

For more details: World Economic Forum

2. Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced

actions or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their
perceived gender. For instance, male farm laborers hired by women farm owners
are likely to be less hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived
strictness of women.

For more details: USAID, IPS-Inter Press Service, World Bank

3. Gender/ social norms collectively held standards to which people are expected to
conform at different stages of their lives based on their sex or gender identity. These are
norms that seek to represent beliefs and values of what it means to male or female in
different societal contexts. For instance gendered expectations for women to
engage in unpaid caregiving work limits their time to engage in productive
agricultural activities.

For more details: European Institute for Gender Equality , World Bank

4. Gender based constraints refer to formal laws, attitudes, perceptions, values, or

practices that limit people’s access to resources and/or opportunities based on their sex
or gender identity. For instance, cultural norms that limit women’s ownership of
agricultural land are gender-based constraints.

For more details: USAID

38
Gender concepts glossary
Key concepts and terms to be aware of

(B) GENDER ISSUES

These are concepts which provide a deeper understanding of the nature of gender issues
and pain points that exist across businesses and society and impact all types of agriculture
service providers.

A clear understanding of these concepts is especially important while trying to (re)design

products and services for women smallholders, as a deeper understanding of gender issues
and pain points can enable creation of solutions which eventually address issues of agency
and decision making power.

5. Gender discrimination refers to direct or indirect unfair treatment of a person based

solely on the person’s sex or perceived gender identity rather than merit, that prevent
them from enjoying full human rights.

For more details: IPS-Inter Press Service

6. Gender roles refer to socially determined behaviours, tasks, and responsibilities

assigned to different individuals based on perceived differences in their sex. These are
socially-prescribed norms on how people should think, act, speak, and feel based on
their perceived sex. For instance men farmers going to the market to sell produce
even if women farmers worked on the fields based on men’s role to handle
money.

For more details: IPS-Inter Press Service

39
Gender concepts glossary
Key concepts and terms to be aware of

(C) GENDER OPPORTUNITY AREAS

These are concepts which provide details on opportunity areas and ways in which
organizations can think about incorporating gender into their internal and external activities.

This set of concepts also cover the various eventual gender related social outcomes that
organizations should be striving for to eventually push for increased women’s agency.

1. Gender mainstreaming / integration is a process that involves embedding of a

gender perspective into the entire spectrum of an organization’s activities including its
strategies, structures, policies, culture, systems and operations. It ensures that the
needs and interests of all genders are included in the design, implementation, and
M&E of any planned activity.

For more details: UN Economic and Social Council

2. Gender lens refers to a perspective that aims to identify and understand gendered
power differences and biases among different groups in economic, social and legal
contexts by analysing the relationship between different gendered groups, their access
to resources and opportunities, and the constraints they face relative to each other.

For more details: Criterion Institute

3. Gender analysis refers to the critical examination of the differences between men and
women, boys and girls, in their access to and control of resources, their roles and
responsibilities, and the constraints they face in a given situation or context relative to
each other. For instance, an assessment of the differences in access to and control of
digital agricultural solutions between women and men smallholder farmers.

For more details: EIGE

4. Gender intentional refers to a gender aware organisation that designs its products,
service lines, and/or investments to reduce barriers in access to resources across
genders or to increase the information base and awareness around gender gaps. For
instance an agri-input loan provider designs shorter tenure loans linked to
savings products to cater to the researched needs of female smallholder farmers.

5. Gender unintentional refers to an organisation that does not integrate a gender lens
and does not target gender gaps in its strategies, investments,product design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation, internal structures and organization culture.
For instance an agri-input loan provider that does not consider the differences in
borrowing behaviour and needs of women while designing credit products and
acquiring customers.

40
Gender concepts glossary
Key concepts and terms to be aware of

(C) GENDER OPPORTUNITY AREAS

These are concepts which provide details on opportunity areas and ways in which
organizations can think about incorporating gender into their internal and external activities.

This set of concepts also cover the various eventual gender related social outcomes that
organizations should be striving for to eventually push for increased women’s agency.

4. Gender intentional refers to a gender aware organisation that designs its products,
service lines, and/or investments to reduce barriers in access to resources across
genders or to increase the information base and awareness around gender gaps. For
instance an agri-input loan provider designs shorter tenure loans linked to
savings products to cater to the researched needs of female smallholder farmers.

5. Gender unintentional refers to an organisation that does not integrate a gender lens
and does not target gender gaps in its strategies, investments,product design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation, internal structures and organization culture.
For instance an agri-input loan provider that does not consider the differences in
borrowing behaviour and needs of women while designing credit products and
acquiring customers.

6. Gender transformative refers to an organisation that aims to achieve gender

empowerment and equity designs its products, service lines, and/or investments to
reduce barriers in not only access to resources but also in agency and control over
resources. For instance an agri-input loan provider can incorporate strategies to
reach out to include women smallholder customers to make the final decision on
loan disbursal after approval without spousal consent.

7. Gender equality refers to equal rights, opportunities, and responsibilities for different
genders regardless of their sex or gender identity. It involves equal treatment for men
and women, girls and boys,by taking into consideration their needs and priorities while
recognizing their diversity.

For more details: UN Women

8. Gender equity refers to fairness in the treatment of all people, and in the distribution of
resources and responsibilities among people, regardless of their sex and/or gender
identity while taking into account the historical and social disadvantages that limit
different genders from operating at a level playing field.

For more details: United Nations Population Fund, IPS-Inter Press Service, UNESCO

41
Gender concepts glossary
Key concepts and terms to be aware of

(C) GENDER OPPORTUNITY AREAS

These are concepts which provide details on opportunity areas and ways in which
organizations can think about incorporating gender into their internal and external activities.

This set of concepts also cover the various eventual gender related social outcomes that
organizations should be striving for to eventually push for increased women’s agency.

9. Sex disaggregated data refers to quantitative and qualitative data collected and
presented by sex that allows for measurement of socio-economic and socio-cultural
differences between men and women. For example, collection of data on the number of
women and men smallholder farmers that use digital tools for agriculture separately in
order to measure the gendered differences.

For more details: European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)

10. Women and girls empowerment refers to the strengthening of women and girls’
power, and agency over their own lives such that they can equally participate in
decision-making at all levels. For instance, expansion of women farmers’ agency in
production, control over productive resources, control over use of income, social capital
and leadership, agency in time use, human capital and access to and use of digital
solutions.

For more details: EIGE, UN Women, USAID, IFPRI, Agrilinks

42
Gender concepts glossary
Key concepts and terms to be aware of

(D) AGRICULTURE X GENDER CONCEPTS

These are concepts that help contextualize gender within the various types of activities and
businesses that operate in the digital agriculture sector. While this set is not exhaustive, but it
aims to provide illustrative examples of what applying a gender lens might mean to
agriculture value chains.

1. Advisory and information services refers to digitally delivered information on topics

such as agronomic best practices, pests and diseases, market prices, farming
techniques that are tailored to specific farmer segments and that enable farmers to
make informed decisions that maximise their agricultural output. Increasing access to
advisory and information services for women farmers increases their productivity.

For more details: CTA

2. Digitalisation for Agriculture refers to use of digital technologies, innovations and

solutions to transform agricultural value chains and address constraints across the
agricultural value chain in order to achieve greater income for smallholder farmers. For
example, digital financial services that aim to increase access to financial access
for women smallholder farmers in remote locations.

For more details: CTA

3. Crowd farming refers to use of digital platforms to link farmers in need of financing for
their agricultural activities to investors who are looking to invest in agriculture. It
involves sourcing of funds from several investors to invest in smallholder agricultural
enterprises. Women smallholder farmers will particularly benefit from
crowd-farming initiatives given their low access to financial resources.

For more details: CTA, Invoice, Nigeria

4. Digital financial inclusion refers to deployment of cost-saving digital platforms in order

to provide formal financial services to financially excluded and underserved groups. For
instance, design and offering of tailored and affordable credit, savings and
insurance services to women farmers by digital financial service providers in
agrifinance in order to increase their access to finance and overall financial
inclusion.

For more details: World Bank, World Bank, IFC

43
Gender concepts glossary
Key concepts and terms to be aware of

(D) AGRICULTURE X GENDER CONCEPTS

These are concepts that help contextualize gender within the various types of activities and
businesses that operate in the digital agriculture sector. While this set is not exhaustive, but it
aims to provide illustrative examples of what applying a gender lens might mean to
agriculture value chains.

5. Financial literacy refers to the ability to understand how money works and the ability to
manage and make informed decisions about money including how to make money, how
to budget, how to save and how to invest the money. Digital financial service
providers can design and implement targeted financial education programs for
women smallholder farmers in order to increase their financial literacy.

For more details: Annuity, World Bank, OECD, IFAD

6. Financial services providers (FSPs) refers to enterprises and institutions that provide
financial services and products such credit and insurance services to their customers.
In agriculture, FSPs refer to institutions that offer financial services and products to
farmers and they include commercial banks, microfinance institutions(MFIs), savings
and credit cooperative organisations (SACCOs), insurance companies, etc.

For more details: CTA

7. Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) refers to a self-managed community

group that offers savings, credit and insurance services to its members. VSLAs mainly
serve economically vulnerable populations e.g. women farmers in rural areas who often
lack access to formal financial services. VSLAs increase access to financial services
and social capital for women SHFs, resulting in increased productivity and
income.

For more details: CARE, VSLA, The Mango Tree, Advance II

8. Savings and Credit Cooperative Society (SACCO) refers to a member-driven

non-profit financial cooperative that offers savings and credit services to its members.
SACCOs are favoured by women smallholder farmers and increase their access
to finance since they are easily accessible, have less intimidating procedures
than other financial institutions and offer more suitable loan conditions.

For more details: Digipay, ILO

9. Climate change refers to the long-term shifts in global temperatures, precipitation and
wind patterns caused by a rise greenhouse gas emissions. Changing climate and
weather patterns threaten agricultural productivity and food chain security, with
women farmers being disproportionately affected.

For more details: Climate Reality Project, Root Capital

44
Gender concepts glossary
Key concepts and terms to be aware of

(D) AGRICULTURE X GENDER CONCEPTS

These are concepts that help contextualize gender within the various types of activities and
businesses that operate in the digital agriculture sector. While this set is not exhaustive, but it
aims to provide illustrative examples of what applying a gender lens might mean to
agriculture value chains.

10. Climate change mitigation refers to efforts to reduce or prevent emission of

greenhouse gases (GHGs) that cause climate change. Adoption of climate smart
agricultural practices has high climate mitigation potential. Addressing the existing
gender gaps in agriculture will increase the ability of women farmers to adopt
mitigation practices which further result in food security and increased resilience
to climate shocks.

For more details: UNEP, UNDP

11. Climate change adaptation refers to changes in processes, practices and structures
to respond to actual or expected effects or impacts of climate change. It involves
sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and income by reducing vulnerability to
climate change. Increasing women farmers’ access to resources such as digital
finance solutions and climate smart technologies will increase their climate
adaptive capacity.

For more details: UNFCCC, FAO

12. Climate smart agriculture (CSA) refers to agricultural strategies and practices that
would ensure sustainable food security in a changing climate through increased
agricultural productivity, enhanced climate resilience and reduced emissions. Women
farmers need to be educated on climate-smart agricultural practices such as crop
diversification and manure management to increase their climate resilience.

For more details: FAO, World Bank

45
Case studies
Primary audience
Examples of gender transformative work from the ecosystem All

This case study compendium will help you to learn from real world
examples of organizations that have adopted gender transformative
approaches and the impacts of the same.
Tool type
Reading material
The case studies are short summaries of evidences across value
chains and geographies, highlighting (1) why gender mainstreaming
should be considered in agriculture (2) how gender mainstreaming
can be considered and (3) evidence of impact of gender
mainstreaming. Longer form sources are linked to every summary to
provide deeper reading material. Personnel
Any/all
This case study compendium can be very useful to build a case for
gender transformation both internally within an organization and
externally with stakeholders. The various case studies provide
illustrative examples how gender transformative approaches in
agriculture can be adopted and the financial and social benefits from
such approaches. Duration
4-6 hours
Directions to use the case study compendium:
GOALS
1. The case studies in this tool can be read together to build
(1) Understand why gender
further awareness on topics related to gender transformation transformative approaches
in agriculture or can be consumed in a modular fashion are required, how they can
depending upon topics of interest. be implemented in various
settings and what is the
evidence of impact from
2. These case studies can serve both internal and external
such approaches.
purposes to build the case for gender transformation.
(2) Use for internal and
a. Use these case studies as evidence to propagate for external conversations
internal changes such as policies and governance around gender
transformation.
structures that support gender transformation while
benefiting the overall business mission.
REQUIREMENTS
(1) No additional investment
b. Use these case studies as evidence to talk to external
in terms of financial, human
stakeholders (such as suppliers, funders, etc.) and or technical resources.
build the case for developing products and services
that take into account varied needs of women and men (2) If there are terms which
smallholders. are unclear we suggest
referring to Gender concepts
glossary tool or consult your
3. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some Gender Advisor if you have
commonly used terms in the tool which will aid in better one.
understanding of some of the cases.

46
Case studies
Examples of gender transformative work from the ecosystem

WHY SHOULD GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURE BE CONSIDERED?

Knowns and unknowns of gender transformative approaches

Despite the significant contribution of women farmers to the
agriculture sector in SSA and globally, gender gaps persist in levels
of productivity, resilience and incomes. Gender transformative
approaches represent a shift in how digital agriculture products and
services help tackle gender divide and shift gender based
constraints and norms for higher gender equality. While there has
been an increased awareness about gender transformative
approaches, there is still need to build evidence on how they not
only reach more women, but also lead to substantive empowerment
through addressing structural factors like entrenched gender norms
and perceptions around gender roles. For gender transformative
approaches to have significant outcomes there is a need for
strategies to surface and address underlying barriers (such as
gender norms) and to encourage participatory approaches
including all genders. To continue reading further on this topic,
refer to CGIAR research.

Case for mainstreaming gender in agriculture

While women account for close to half of the agriculture sector
labour force, their productivity is 20-30% less than that of men
farmers. This gendered productivity gap is attributable to women’s
lower access to productive resources, inputs, technology and
innovative solutions, credit, and access to markets, among other
reasons. If these inequalities were to be eliminated, agriculture
production would increase by 2.5-4% and a 100-150 million
fewer people would be hungry. If women had greater access to
the resources they need then countries would see their gross
national product increase by 4%. This is backed by studies
showing that women invest in cultivated land, and in nutrition, health
and education, thus enhancing the chain of productivity. To continue
reading further on this topic, refer to the Technical Centre for
Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) research.

47
Case studies
Examples of gender transformative work from the ecosystem

HOW CAN GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURE BE CONSIDERED?

Farm to Market Alliance empowering women smallholders

Farm to Market Alliance (FtMA) is public-private consortium of six
organisations that seeks to empower smallholder farmers in Kenya,
Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia to increase their yields, income and
resilience, and to improve global food security. The consortium uses
a demand-led approach to deliver products that are tailored to the
needs of farmers. FtMA empowers farmers to become reliable
market players through access to four integrated pathways: i)
predictable markets, ii) affordable finance, iii) technologies and
quality inputs, and iv) handling and storage solutions. Through its
locally-run Farmer Service Centers model, FtMA has reached
150,000 farmers to date across the four countries. Female farmers
make up 53% of the participating farmers in Kenya, 49% in
Rwanda, 43% in Tanzania, and 40% in Zambia, indicating an
appreciation of FtMA services by women farmers. To continue
reading on FtMA’s work, refer to FtMA website.

Gender and agriculture rural advisory services

Among the multiple factors that hinder women farmers’
productivity, a key one is women’s limited access to agriculture
advisory services (AAS) which limits their ability to learn and adapt
new technologies and agriculture practices which could otherwise
contribute to improved yields, productivity and incomes. Women
are less likely to receive AAS due to lack of targeted programs,
gender bias in the content delivered, primarily male delivery agents
and little consideration of gender based constraints like mobility,
time, etc. There is however growing evidence of generation of
positive outcomes of AAS after intentionally including women. In
2008 BRAC Uganda launched a women only agriculture
extension project and an impact evaluation indicated
meaningful improvement in measures of food security,
27.6% rise in agriculture production value and a 29%
reduction in household level malaria prevalence. To
continue reading further on this topic, refer to the Gates Gender
and Agricultural Advisory Services brief.

48
Case studies
Examples of gender transformative work from the ecosystem

HOW CAN GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN AGRICULTURE BE CONSIDERED?

Understanding gender preferences in banana traits to improve adoption

Bananas have high economic importance in the agriculture sector in
Sub Saharan Africa, yet there is scarce usage of new cultivars with
better agronomic characteristics than traditional cultivars. Research
has shown that men and women farmers have variations in their
preference for cultivars based on their gendered socio-economic
roles. Women farmers who sell bananas for income prefer traits
related to production (such as early maturity) and men farmers who
mostly sell bananas for consumption prefer traits like colour and
taste. Deeper assessment and integration of this knowledge of
varied preferences by gender can inform banana breeding research
and resource allocation to increase adoption of new cultivars.
Women and men banana farmers have gender specific
knowledge on production, processing and consumption
of particular cultivars and as such gender sensitive
approaches can support efficient banana breeding
programs. To continue reading further on this topic, refer to CGIAR
research.

49
Case studies
Examples of gender transformative work from the ecosystem

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE OF IMPACT OF GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN

AGRICULTURE?

Increased incomes for coffee farmers with participatory decision making

Men and women coffee smallholder farmers in Uganda have
benefited from increased household incomes through improved and
increased participatory intra-household decision making processes.
Intra-household conflicts related to women’s participation in coffee
farming had led to adverse impacts on both the coffee production
and value (in terms of unripe, low quality coffee beans) and on
interpersonal effects, including gender based violence. Introducing
community workshops on gender relations resulted in improved joint
management of assets and incomes by men and women farmers,
more equitable division of labour, less gender based violence and
increased incomes through sale of higher quality beans. By
addressing women’s unequal access to knowledge,
resources and decision making, farmers were able to
achieve higher agency for women and better livelihoods.
To continue reading further on this topic, refer to IDH.

Increased flower exports through gender focused policies and governance

The flower sector in Kenya mostly realised value through
dependence on marginalized, vulnerably employed and low skilled
female workers and auction-sales leadings to low prices. The sector
introduced policies to improve governance through compliance with
the gender requirements of the Kenya Flower Council social and
environmental standards to ensure better working conditions and
development of a more skilled and stable female workforce. This
enabled the sector to sell better quality produce to more European
markets. The exports of the Kenyan flower sector
increased by 2.8% of the total world flower exports
through compliance with gender requirements of social
and environmental standards. These gender requirements
included equal remuneration, job security, worker committees with
representation of men and women among others. To continue
reading further on this topic, refer to IDH.

50
Case studies
Examples of gender transformative work from the ecosystem

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE OF IMPACT OF GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN

AGRICULTURE?

Reduced time poverty for women farmers due to analysis of sex-disaggregated data
Collection and analysis of sex-and-gender disaggregated data
provides a clear understanding of existing gender gaps and
underlying root causes resulting in informed policy making and
tailored interventions that address the needs of women. For
instance, the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement
Study—Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) provides
extensive information in understanding gender gaps in agriculture.
Synthesis of LSMS-ISA data from six IDA countries reveals deep
rooted inequalities in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, identifies
factors holding back women farmers, and sets out concrete actions
that policy makers can take to reduce inequality. For example,
findings from the study indicates that in several countries
time poverty is a key driver of gender inequality in
agricultural productivity, and that community-based child
care centers provide an alternative to alleviate time
poverty for women and as a result, increase their
participation in paid agricultural activities. To read more on
this topic, refer to World Bank.

Increased income for women farmers due to adoption of climate smart approaches
The Women’s Empowerment: Improving Resilience, Income and
Food Security (WE RISE) programme aims to improve household
food security and build resilience by empowering women through
increased agricultural productivity. In Tanzania where interventions
focused on cassava and sesame value chains, increases were
observed in the adoption of Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA)
practices such as mulching, minimum tillage and planting in rows,
and the use of quality seeds between baseline and endline
evaluations. For instance, women using minimum tillage increased
from 21% to 65.5%. Consequently, women increased
sesame production from 213.6 kg/ha to 569.3 kg/ha
(166%) between 2012 and 2015. Their average annual
income increased from USD 165 to USD 215 (30%).
Cassava yields also increased from 573.3 kg/ha to 648.6
kg/ha. To continue reading further on this topic, refer to CARE
International Evaluations.

51
Case studies
Examples of gender transformative work from the ecosystem

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE OF IMPACT OF GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN

AGRICULTURE?

Improved incomes for women smallholders driven by Arifu’s digital learning solutions
designed for women
Digital literacy and engaging learning content among smallholders,
is a precursor to advancing smart farming to improve livelihoods and
resilience. Women smallholders, however face several barriers to
accessing learning content, such as lower access to devices,
gender-blind technology designs, higher time poverty to use digital
services and lower decision making power and agency. Arifu, a
digital advisor provides free agriculture training content through
various channels (SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook) and aims to design
their products suited to differentiated needs of women farmers.
Arifu’s agriculture and business content have led to
adoption of better agriculture practices and increased
incomes for women. In Tanzania, Arifu offered business
and savings goals training to women in partnership with
Technoserve and saw a 185% increase in savings. To read
more on this topic, refer to Arifu.

Improved financial discipline among women farmers in Zambia, driven by AgriPay’s digital
financial services
Although women make a large proportion of the Zambian
agricultural labour force, they remain the most financially excluded
group. Zambia’s AgriPay is ZANACO’s farmers account offering
that presents women with access to financial products and
services as well as agronomic information. Since its launch in
2019, almost 54% of the accounts were opened by women
farmers. AgriPay’s value proposition of safe storage of money and
features around low transaction costs addresses women’s needs.
Additionally, ability to transact through mobile phones also
addresses specific pain points of women farmers around time
poverty and mobility constraints. Use of AgriPay has
contributed to improved livelihoods of women farmers,
through higher financial discipline, better financial
management, higher disposable money due to low
transaction fees and no maintenance charges. To continue
reading further on this topic, refer to Agri-Pay Zanaco and Mercy
Corps Agrifin.

52
Case studies
Examples of gender transformative work from the ecosystem

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE OF IMPACT OF GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN

AGRICULTURE?

Improved livelihoods for women smallholders in Kenya, driven by DigiFarm’s exhaustive

digital agriculture services
Smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially women, face a range
of challenges across the ecosystem, from access to inputs and
capital to market linkage facilities. DigiFarm, a Safaricom subsidiary,
provides a range of digital agricultural services catered to
smallholders through basic feature phones. Services include access
to inputs, input credit, crop insurance, learning content and market
linkages. DigiFarm has adopted various gender specific mandates to
increase the adoption and usage of digital products among women
smallholders. With implementing partner Africa Instore Solutions
(AIS) it has adopted a gender mainstreaming lens in its operations.
DigiFarm, also through its Digifarm Village Agent (DVA) program
ensures that at least a third of agents are women to increase the
comfort of women smallholders to approach and engage with
agents. These efforts have led to increased engagement of women
farmers with DigiFarm’s products and improvement in their
livelihoods and lifestyles. Women farmers have reported
increase in farm yields, productivity and incomes due to
enhanced access to better quality and certified inputs
through DigiFarm. Access to offtakers and market
linkages have also provided women farmers with
increased and diversified income streams. To read more on
this topic, refer to Digi Farm and Mercy Corps AgriFin.

AgTech’s potential to boost women’s empowerment

Digital solutions and innovations for agriculture have the potential to
address several persisting gender gaps through providing women
higher access to productive resources, lower entry barriers to
access markets and services and increased agency. In Ghana, the
Shea Network Ghana (SNG) used digital technology to
directly connect women farmers engaged in informal
shea processing activities to markets and buyers leading
to an 82% increase in their profits. These women shea
farmers are now connected to the formal market and are able to sell
their produce using their mobile phones. Increased incomes and
more importantly, higher level of ownership of their produce and
agency in the shea butter value chain are some of the key outcomes
of using digital technology to bring women farmers closer to the end
buyers. To continue reading further on this topic, refer to the
Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA)
research.

53
Case studies
Examples of gender transformative work from the ecosystem

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Advisory and information services refers to digitally delivered information on topics

such as agronomic best practices, pests and diseases, market prices, farming
techniques that are tailored to specific farmer segments and that enable farmers to
make informed decisions that maximise their agricultural output. Increasing access to
advisory and information services for women farmers increases their productivity.
Climate smart agriculture (CSA) refers to agricultural strategies and practices that
would ensure sustainable food security in a changing climate through increased
agricultural productivity, enhanced climate resilience and reduced emissions. Women
farmers need to be educated on climate-smart agricultural practices such as crop
diversification and manure management to increase their climate resilience.
Gender/ social norms are collectively held standards to which people are expected to
conform at different stages of their lives based on their sex or gender identity. These
are norms that seek to represent beliefs and values of what it means to male or female
in different societal contexts. E.g., gendered expectations for women to engage in
unpaid caregiving work limits their time to engage in productive agricultural activities.
Gender based constraints refer to formal laws, attitudes, perceptions, values, or
practices that limit people’s access to resources and/or opportunities based on their
sex or gender identity. E.g., cultural norms that limit women’s ownership of agricultural
land are gender-based constraints.
Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced
actions or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their
perceived gender. E.g., male farm laborers hired by women farm owners are likely to
be less hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived strictness of women.
Gender equality refers to equal rights, opportunities, and responsibilities for different
genders regardless of their sex or gender identity. It involves equal treatment for men
and women, girls and boys,by taking into consideration their needs and priorities while
recognizing their diversity
Gender mainstreaming / integration is a process that involves embedding of a
gender perspective into the entire spectrum of an organization’s activities including its
strategies, structures, policies, culture, systems and operations. It ensures that the
needs and interests of all genders are included in the design, implementation, and M&E
of any planned activity.

54
 DATA
COLLECTION & X

ANALYSIS
TOOLS
In this section we will introduce 2 tools that
will provide support to your organization to
better understand how to collect and analyse
sex disaggregated data.

These tools are mainly in a guidebook format

and as such can be used with internal and
external stakeholders for training and
awareness around sex and gender related
data and how they can be analysed to better
reach and serve women smallholders.

55
Data collection and analysis tools
Collect and analyse data for gender insights

This section includes two tools to support learning and exploration of data for gender
analysis.
Click on each tool to access them directly.

SEX DISAGGREGATED DATA COLLECTION GUIDE

○ Guidebook providing a primer on the importance of collecting sex

disaggregated data, guidelines on how to collect sex disaggregated data
and sample questions and categories for which sex disaggregated data
should be collected.
○ Use this tool to understand internally within your organization on how to
start collecting sex disaggregated data.
○ Use this tool to discuss with external stakeholders key indicators that
they can help with data collection on.

SEX DISAGGREGATED DATA ANALYSIS GUIDE

○ Guidebook providing a primer on how to appropriately analyse sex

disaggregated data to derive gender insights.
○ Use this tool to internally within your organization to do gender analysis
and share insights with key teams and also externally with key
stakeholders such as funders, suppliers, etc.

56
Sex disaggregated data
collection guide Primary audience
Gender unintentional and
intentional organisations
Best practices and indicators for data collection

This sex disaggregated data collection guide provides details and

videos on the need to collect sex disaggregated data as an Tool type
Guide
important step towards serving women smallholders better and
increasing their agency.

The guide also provides tips on how to collect data while avoiding
gender biases as much as possible.
Personnel
The guide provides a sample of categories and indicators that Farmer-facing teams, field
organizations should consider while collecting sex disaggregated agents

data to ensure that the data exhaustively represents the different

realities faced by men and women smallholders.

The sample indicators are primarily external focussed, however the

data collected can be used to inform internal strategic and business
Duration
analysis. 3-4 hours

Directions to use the sex disaggregated data collection guide:

GOALS
(1) Understand why sex
1. If your organization is new to the concept of collecting sex
disaggregated data is
disaggregated data it is recommended you start with the collected and how to collect
linked resources and videos to understand the importance of it while avoiding bias.
collecting sex disaggregated data.
(2) Understand how to
collect data such that it
2. Go through the tips on data collection to ensure that at each
reflects gendered realities.
step of data collection any unintentional gender bias is
avoided or at least acknowledged. REQUIREMENTS
(1) If you are already
collecting data, use of this
3. Use the sample questions in the categories given to further
tool will require minimal
build out questions to enable data collection. Attempt to financial and human
collect data across various indicators to ensure realities and resource investment to
needs of women and men smallholders are accurately include questions around
represented. sex and gender and training
and how to collect that data.
4. Use various channels such as internal company reports, (2) If you do not already
surveys, focus group discussions, interviews (in-person, collect data you will require
telephonic, SMS based) to collect a wide range of data. material investment to
develop and institute data
collection tools.
5. Collect the data in a centralised excel sheet and ensure that
it can only be edited by those collecting data to avoid any (3) If there are terms which
data issues. are unclear we suggest
referring to Gender concepts
6. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some glossary tool or consult your
Gender Advisor if you have
commonly used terms which will aid in better understanding
one
57
of some of the indicators.
Sex disaggregated data collection
guide
Best practices and indicators for data collection

INTRODUCTORY PRIMER ON SEX DISAGGREGATED DATA

Even before beginning to collect sex disaggregated data it is important to understand one of the most commonly
confused concepts in this space - sex and gender. You may encounter phrases such as “gender-disaggregated
data” or “data disaggregated by gender” which are in fact incorrect and should not be used. While collecting and
disaggregating data it is only possible to do so through identifiable characteristics i.e. sex and not gender which
is a social construct.

The gender gap in agriculture is one of the more significant areas of gender disparity across the globe, yet one
of the less well documented ones. The sector is characterized by stark gender inequalities in the form of
women’s lack of or limited access to productive assets, inputs, advisory services and discrimination in the labour
market. Collecting sex disaggregated data can make these differences visible and provide opportunity areas for
action.

The FAO has produced short films about the need for gender equality in the agricultural sector and how to
measure it which can be accessed through the below links:

Gender in Agriculture and Gender Indicators to Better

Rural Development Understand the Status of
Rural Men and Women

To produce relevant and accurate sex disaggregated data and gender insights, at a preparatory stage it is key
to:

● Ensure a common understanding of terms and taxonomy related to gender before gathering
data. This can help avoid confusion among data providers, collectors and users on key indicators. For
further details on common gender, agriculture and climate concepts, refer to a list of useful resources at
the end of this guide.
● Be aware of gender bias in data collection methods. Gender bias in data collection refers to
underreporting or misreporting of demographic, social or economic characteristics associated with one
of the sexes. In agriculture, gender bias in data collection could lead to undervaluing or even missing
women’s contribution to the sector. For example, even though women might be undertaking informal
income generating activities like gathering and selling local plants they may be referred to an
‘unemployed’ as it wouldn't align with a stereotypical employment norm of formal, monetized work. More
often than not gender bias is unconscious and a result of commonly held and understood perceptions of
gender norms and gendered roles. As such it is important to frequently revisit any assumptions while
collecting sex disaggregated data.
● Remember sex disaggregated data collection should not be limited to issues of the family or
topics generally perceived to be pertaining to women. Even seemingly neutral topics such as
climate change induced crises or armed conflict can have gendered dimensions and severely impact
women. Thus all topics should have data collected and disaggregated by sex, wherever possible.

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Sex disaggregated data collection
guide
Best practices and indicators for data collection

SAMPLE INDICATORS AND QUESTIONS TO START COLLECTING SEX

DISAGGREGATED DATA

To collect sex disaggregated data which will eventually support gender analysis and gender
transformative approaches, it is important that indicators and questions cover the diverse and
varied realities of women in the agriculture sector.

A non-exhaustive set of sample indicators, questions, and units of analysis are listed below. It is
recommended that organizations use these indicators as starting points and expand on the
questions based of the nature of their business, key stakeholders and ease of data availability.

Indicator: Agriculture population and households

Data from these questions will help you understand who to target for various Men Women
agriculture products, services, and innovations

1. Average size of the smallholder’s household, by sex of the smallholder

(number of members)

2. Average age of the smallholder and members of the household, by sex of

the smallholder (year in numbers)

Indicator: Access to productive resources

Data from these questions will help you understand who owns what resources Men Women

1. Acreage under crop farming by sex of the smallholder (number of acres)

2. Number of livestock owned and species, by sex of the smallholder

(number by each species)

3. Ownership of machinery and other farming equipment (number by

equipment type)

Indicator: Decision making power and agency

Data from these questions will help you understand who controls decision making Men Women
and how decisions are made

1. Education level beyond a certain level by sex of the smallholder (number

of years of education at various levels of formal education)

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Sex disaggregated data collection
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Best practices and indicators for data collection

Indicator: Decision making power and agency

Data from these questions will help you understand who controls decision making Men Women
and how decisions are made

2. Participation in farmer organizations and cooperatives, by sex of the

smallholder (yes or no answer)

3. Access to credit for agriculture, by sex of the smallholder (yes or no

answer and type of credit accessed)

4. Access to agriculture extension services, by sex of the smallholder (yes or

no answer and type of service accessed)

Indicator: Climate change

Data from these questions will help you understand who will get more adversely Men Women
impacted by climate change induced crises

1. Acreage of holdings in vulnerable geographies, by sex of the smalholder

(number of acres)

2. Acreage of rain-fed holdings, by sex of the smallholder (number of acres)

Indicator: Digital devices

Data from these questions will help you understand who will most likely benefit Men Women
from digital innovations

1. Ownership of individual mobile phone, by sex of the smallholder (yes or no

answer)

2. Average airtime expense per month, by sex of the smallholder (dollar

value)

Indicator: Time and labour

Data from these questions will help you understand who does what activity on a Men Women
daily basis within a household and how much time they spend at it

1. Distribution of agriculture tasks performed, by sex of the smallholder (list of

activities)

2. Time spent on agriculture and household tasks performed, by sex of the

smallholder (number of hours)

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Sex disaggregated data collection
guide
Best practices and indicators for data collection

COMMON SEX DISAGGREGATED DATA COLLECTION METHODS

Below are some of the common ways to collect qualitative and quantitative sex
disaggregated data:

● Company data - use sex disaggregated data collected by the organization during core
business activities to understand the gender composition and orientation of internal
organization and business activities
● Focus group discussions - discussions of target beneficiaries or other key stakeholders
in a moderated environment
● In-person surveys - one on one interviews with stakeholders to allow for exploring
more complex questions
● Mobile surveys - SMS or IVR short surveys
● Diaries / journals / log keeping - records of activities of target stakeholders /
beneficiaries or other key stakeholders over time to understand the changes in
behaviour and impact

While collecting data through any of the above methods, it is key to be aware of inherent
gender biases in various data collection methods, some examples of which are mentioned
below.

● Company data - some companies may not have complete or accurate sex
disaggregated data or there might be potential bias in the way the data was collected
in the first place
● Focus group discussions - if men’s and women’s value are not equally valued in a
community then in a mixed gender group discussion women may be hesitant to voice
opinions and there might be a need to have separate group discussions for men and
women participants
● In-person surveys - due to time poverty, women respondents may not be able to
devote as much time and attention as needed for in person surveys.
● Mobile surveys - women may lack ownership of devices or may not be able to use
them as much as men and thus may not be able to respond to surveys through
devices

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Best practices and indicators for data collection

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Gender refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially
constructed. This includes norms, behaviours and roles associated with being a
woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a social construct,
it varies across societies and over time. Gender is a relational concept that is best
understood by examining interactions between individuals and social groups.
Sex refers to a person’s biological status and is typical categorized as male, female, or
intersex. It is typically assigned at birth and refers to physical and biological indicators
including hormones, sex chromosomes, internal reproductive organs, and external
genatilia. Sex and gender are often conflated leading to the erroneous notion that
gender norms and roles are bilogically determined and cannot be changed.
Gender analysis refers to the critical examination of the differences between men and
women, boys and girls, in their access to and control of resources, their roles and
responsibilities, and the constraints they face in a given situation or context relative to
each other. For instance, an assessment of the differences in access to and control of
digital agricultural solutions between women and men smallholder farmers.
Sex disaggregated data refers to quantitative and qualitative data collected and
presented by sex that allows for measurement of socio-economic and socio-cultural
differences between men and women. For example, collection of data on the number of
women and men smallholder farmers that use digital tools for agriculture separately in
order to measure the gendered differences.
Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced
actions or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their
perceived gender. For instance, male farm laborers hired by women farm owners are
likely to be less hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived strictness of
women.
Gender gap refers to the disparity in men and women’s social, political, intellectual
cultural and/or economic condition or position in society, often based on underlying
socio-cultural norms. It reflects the unequal distribution of resources, opportunities and
outcomes across genders. For instance, women smallholder farmers have less access
to digital financial services indicating a gender gap in access to resources.

62
Sex disaggregated data
analysis guide Primary audience
Gender unintentional and
intentional organisations
Best practices for data analysis

This sex disaggregated data analysis guide provides details and

guides on how once sex disaggregated data is collected. Tool type
Guide

it can be used to understand gender issues and eventually support

in tailoring products and services that better serve the needs of
women smallholders.

Directions to use the sex disaggregated data analysis guide: Personnel

Analytics teams, strategy
1. It is recommended that this guide is used after or along with teams

the sex disaggregated data collection guide to derive the

most value. The sex disaggregated data collection guide is
available here.

2. Go through the tips and examples on data analysis to

Duration
understand the best practices on how to perform gender 1-3 hours
analysis.

3. This tool is best used by members of an organization who GOALS

have prior experience or training in data analysis and have (1) Understand some of the
best practices in gender data
sufficient proficiency in MS Excel or statistical software analysis.
packages.
REQUIREMENTS
(1) Fully integrating this tool
4. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some will require financial
commonly used terms which will aid in better understanding investments in data analysis
of some of the indicators. or statistical packages to
analyze the data.

(2) Trained data analysts will

be key, or there will be a
need to invest in such
training of existing
employees.

(3) For gender analysis of

sex disaggregated data it is
useful to have an internal
gender expert/advisor to
lead the analysiss and
hypothesis creation.

(4) If there are terms which

are unclear we suggest
referring to Gender concepts
glossary tool or consult your
Gender Advisor if you have
one.

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Sex disaggregated data analysis
guide
Best practices for data analysis

BEST PRACTICES ON SEX DISAGGREGATED DATA ANALYSIS

While collecting sex disaggregated data is a crucial first step, the next step of analysing the
same to generate gender insights is important to understand underlying gender norms,
barriers, and gender based constraints. These analyses and insights can in turn help (re)design
better products and services which serve women smallholders and increase their agency.

Below are some of the best practices to keep in mind while performing sex disaggregated data
analysis:

(1) Sex disaggregated data, wherever possible, should be cross tabulated with other relevant
variables

This will allow for the analysis to highlight differences between males and females in agriculture and in
sub-groups which would otherwise be invisible. Other variables that can be used include age, education levels,
labour force participation, income, asset ownership, etc.

Example: A digital financial services provider can collect sex disaggregated data on loan redemption values and
cross tabulate it with data on collateral ownership or asset ownership by sex. This will enable the provider to
develop hypotheses on varying loan redemption rates by women and men smallholders. It is possible, that even
when women and men smallholders are approved loans at the same rate, lack of or lower asset ownership
among some groups of women could lead them to hesitate from actually redeeming the loans and hence
running the risk of losing their assets in case they are unable to pay back. The digital financial service provider
would not be able to develop such hypotheses if they only analysed single data points on loan redemption rates
by sex.

(2) Sex disaggregation of data and cross tabulation should be done with specific hypotheses in
mind

This will allow for the analysis to test meaningful correlations and relationships between variables. This will also
help avoid generating excess quantum of data which in the best case can be unwieldy and difficult to analyse,
but in the worst case can lead to analysis of false correlations between data points and even confuse them for
causation.

Example: Continuing with the previous example, the digital financial service provider can cross-tabulate data to
test the hypothesis that eventual loan redemption rates by women and men smallholders is correlated to the
collateral or asset ownership of the farmers. If the digital financial service provider did not have this hypothesis,
they would end up cross tabulating loan redemption rates data with all other types of variables (such as farm
machine ownership, livestock ownership, number of family members, education levels of farmers, time spent in
doing household activities, etc.) and would have a difficult time analysing all this information. In worst case, they
may end up looking at spurious correlations derive insights based on that, rather trying to prove or disprove a
hypothesis using the sex disaggregated data collected.

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Best practices for data analysis

(3) Use descriptive analysis of data for gender-focussed comparisons, but they are better suited for
large datasets

Descriptive analysis of data includes computation of simple measures of distribution that can facilitate
straightforward gender-focussed comparisons. Such measures include proportions and percentages, ratios,
medians, quintiles, means, and standard deviations. It is key however to limit the usage of these measures to
large datasets, where the insights or conclusions can be safely extrapolated to a large population. For smaller
datasets, actual numbers should preferably be used instead of descriptive measures.

Example: Continuing with the previous example, if the digital financial service provider pilots a new loan product
with 50 farmers then they should report and analyse the uptake and usage of the product using actual numbers.
This would mean that if 35 men farmers took the loan product and 5 of them defaulted and 15 women farmers
took the loan product and 2 of them defaulted the numbers should be used as is, instead of using proportions
and percentages in the gender analysis. In this small dataset, it would not be appropriate to use percentages
and say that a similar percentage of women and men smallholders (~14% and ~13% respectively) defaulted on
the loan product as it could be misconstrued and mis-extrapolated to a larger population or taken as a generic
insight.

(4) Combine various types of datasets with sex disaggregated data collected, wherever possible

This will allow to highlight important nuances. However, care must be taken to ensure that the combined
datasets are comparable in terms of coverage and completeness, time period, alignment of key terms and
concepts.

Example: Continuing with the previous example, the digital financial service provider can combine the sex
disaggregated data on loan redemption rates with other data relating to weather patterns in the relevant regions
and sexes of the village agents and field extension officers. By combining these varied datasets, they might be
able to draw hypotheses and insights on whether loan redemption rates varies by gender and if weather plays a
role (bad weather conditions might prohibit some some farmers to redeem loans as they know they will not be
able to repay). The digital financial service provider might also test if the loan redemption rates vary between
genders and is correlated to the gender of the village agent or the field extension officer, i.e., test if women
smallholders do not feel very comfortable dealing with male agents and thus may not redeem loans where they
they have to primarily deal with men or send their husbands or other male members instead.

(5) Combine sex disaggregated data with qualitative data and information to derive more nuanced
gender analysis

This will allow to uncover nuances around gender and social norms, gender based constraints, and gender
biases - all of which may not be readily captured or understood through numerical data. Such qualitative
information can be collected through interviews (in-person or telephonic),

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Sex disaggregated data analysis
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Best practices for data analysis

(5) Combine sex disaggregated data with qualitative data and information to derive more nuanced
gender analysis

focus group discussions, informal conversations with women and men farmers and other key stakeholders and
their families and through secondary research.

Example: Continuing with the previous example, if the digital financial service conducts informal conversations
with women and men smallholder farmers they might uncover that the loan redemption rates by women
smallholders is highly dependent on spousal approval. This is a gender and social norm that indicates towards
women to obtain permission from male members of their households before engaging in any financial decision.
By combining sex disaggregated data with qualitative information, the digital financial service provider is able to
derive gender insights on the key norms and barriers that prevent women smallholder farmers from fully
engaging with financial service products. To address this challenge, the provider can now modify their customer
acquisition process and ensure that male members are engaged from the very beginning and can allow women
farmers to take the financial decision of redeeming the loan a few weeks down the line.

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Sex disaggregated data analysis
guide
Best practices for data analysis

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Gender analysis refers to the critical examination of the differences between men and
women, boys and girls, in their access to and control of resources, their roles and
responsibilities, and the constraints they face in a given situation or context relative to
each other. For instance, an assessment of the differences in access to and control of
digital agricultural solutions between women and men smallholder farmers.

Sex disaggregated data refers to quantitative and qualitative data collected and
presented by sex that allows for measurement of socio-economic and socio-cultural
differences between men and women. For example, collection of data on the number of
women and men smallholder farmers that use digital tools for agriculture separately in
order to measure the gendered differences.
Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced
actions or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their
perceived gender. For instance, male farm laborers hired by women farm owners are
likely to be less hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived strictness of
women.
Gender gap refers to the disparity in men and women’s social, political, intellectual
cultural and/or economic condition or position in society, often based on underlying
socio-cultural norms. It reflects the unequal distribution of resources, opportunities and
outcomes across genders. For instance, women smallholder farmers have less access
to digital financial services indicating a gender gap in access to resources.
Gender/ social norms collectively held standards to which people are expected to
conform at different stages of their lives based on their sex or gender identity. These
are norms that seek to represent beliefs and values of what it means to male or female
in different societal contexts. For instance gendered expectations for women to engage
in unpaid caregiving work limits their time to engage in productive agricultural activities.
Gender based constraints refer to formal laws, attitudes, perceptions, values, or
practices that limit people’s access to resources and/or opportunities based on their
sex or gender identity. For instance, cultural norms that limit women’s ownership of
agricultural land are gender-based constraints.

67
 GENDER
SEGMENTATION X

TOOLS
In this section we will introduce 3 tools that
will provide support to your organization to
better segment your women customers and
understand their profiles, behaviours and
needs.

These tools are both in a participatory

worksheet and reading material format. The
tools can be used to assess and design
external activities, as well as, to drive
conversations and internal strategic
decisions.

68
Gender segmentation tools
Understand your women customers better

This section includes tools to develop a better understanding of different types of women
customer segments in an attempt to serve them better.
Click on each tool to access them directly.

PERSONA LIBRARY OF WOMEN FARMERS IN KENYA

○ Library of different personas of women farmers in Kenya developed for

digital financial service usage.
○ Library of personas were developed based on extensive and robust
research on demographics around financial health, financial behaviours
and psychological factors which drive financial behaviours.
○ Use this tool to understand internally within your organization how
different personas of women farmers look like in Kenya and what are
their key characteristics.
○ Use this tool to discuss with internal stakeholders what learnings can be
derived for (re)designing products and services for women smallholders
based on the characteristics in the persona profiles.

PERSONA LIBRARY OF WOMEN FARMERS IN ZAMBIA

○ Library of different personas of women farmers in Zambia developed for

digital financial service usage.
○ Library of personas were developed based on extensive and robust
research on financial health indicators and factors driving behaviour
change.
○ Use this tool to understand internally within your organization how
different personas of women farmers look like in Zambia and what are
their key characteristics.
○ Use this tool to discuss with internal stakeholders what learnings can be
derived for (re)designing products and services for women smallholders
based on the characteristics in the persona profiles.

PERSONA PROFILE WORKSHEET

○ Worksheet style tool with prompts to create your own persona profiles for
customers from scratch
○ Use this tool if you understand how to create personas for new customer
segments

69
Persona library, Kenya
Primary audience
Common segments of women smallholder farmers in Kenya Gender intentional and
transformative

The persona libraries allow you to look at a diverse market such as

“women smallholder farmers” through the lens of subset of
customers with a common set of characteristics so as to design and
Tool type
implement solutions targeted towards their nuanced needs and Reading material
interests.

This persona library was originally created for The Human Account,
by Dalberg with Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, funded by the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Personnel
Directions to use the persona profile library: Product teams, strategy
teams

1. It is recommended that the persona profile library tool is used

with The Human Account, which is an exhaustive and
immersive resource for the library.

2. Go through the different personas in the library and take note Duration
to understand the characteristics of their financial health, 5-8 hours
financial behaviours and psychological factors impacting their
behaviours.
GOALS
(1) Understand how various
3. Based on your understanding of the personas and their persona profiles are
behaviours, ideate with your teams (especially farmer facing developed.
ones like field force, sales staff) what are potential barriers
and drivers for adoption of financial service products among (2) Explore common persona
types for women farmers
women smallholder farmers.
and understand their
characteristics.
4. Ideate with your teams on the possible design opportunities
around creation and delivery of products and services which (3) Be inspired on how
are aligned to the characteristics of the personas. Read persona profiles can be used
to design products and
through the design case studies in The Human Account for
services for women.
inspiration.
REQUIREMENTS
5. Based on the demographic details in the persona library (1) Understanding this tool
estimate the market size for your (re)designed products and will require personnel who
services. Use the datasets in The Human Account to support have prior experience in
design research, product
your computations. design or have worked with
personas before.
6. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some
commonly used terms which will aid in better understanding (2) If there are terms which
of some of the language. are unclear we suggest
referring to Gender concepts
glossary tool or consult your
Gender Advisor if you have
one.

70
Persona library, Kenya
Common segments of women smallholder farmers in Kenya

CUSTOMER SEGMENTS OF WOMEN FARMERS IN KENYA

Based extensive research on financial health, behaviours and needs; the market of women
smallholders in Kenya can be divided into 4 segments. Below we show the key
characteristics of the segment and the design opportunities for them.
We highly recommend that users of this tool refer to The Human Account to read through the
personas and the research behind creating them in more detail.

CAREFUL STRIVERS : driven, optimistic, planners

● Total market: 32% of Kenya women farmers | 4.6 million people

● Overview: Careful Strivers are mostly lower to middle income rural

married women who are active in farming or are self employed

● Financial behaviours and attitudes: Careful Strivers are highly active

financial managers across channels.They primarily manage their
money through informal groups and friends, family, mobile wallets.
Across all three channels, they have the leadings rates of savings and
borrowings among women farmers. Driven by their sophisticated
financial management, Careful Strivers are the second healthiest
segment financially.

● Product design opportunities: Careful Strivers can be served

through products that promote (1) long term savings habits, (2) help
grow their small businesses (3) leverage their mobile wallet use

CAUTIOUS INDEPENDENTS : cautious, familial, agentic

● Total market: 24% of Kenya women farmers | 3.4 million people

● Overview: Cautious Independents are mostly lower to middle income

rural married women with high income volatility relying on farming and
social support

● Financial behaviours and attitudes:Driven by their circumstances,

Cautious Independents are less financially healthy than female farmers
and Kenyans on average. Due to their low and volatile income, they
face frequent struggles with their expenses and emergencies, as well
and planning and saving to build financial cushions. Their economic
struggles likely constrain their ability to focus on long-term financial
plans and goals.

● Product design opportunities: Cautious Independents can be served

through products that (1) support aspirations to build assets, (2)
smoothen high income volatility (3) build self esteem and trust

71
Persona library, Kenya
Common segments of women smallholder farmers in Kenya

CUSTOMER SEGMENTS OF WOMEN FARMERS IN KENYA

Based extensive research on financial health, behaviours and needs; the market of women
smallholders in Kenya can be divided into 4 segments. Below we show the key
characteristics of the segment and the design opportunities for them.
We highly recommend that users of this tool refer to The Human Account to read through the
personas and the research behind creating them in more detail.

DISCIPLINED PRAGMATISTS : conscientious, self-efficacious, skeptical

● Total market: 17% of Kenya women farmers | 2.0 million people

● Overview: Disciplined Pragmatists are mostly lower income young,

rural, married women with primary school education. They are the
poorest segment with the highest income volatility

● Financial behaviours and attitudes:Disciplined Pragmatists are the

poorest of women farmers. As a slightly younger segment, they are
more likely to share household financial decisions with their spouse or
someone else in the household. While all farm, under a fifth primarily
rely on farming, also relying on casual labor, self employment and
income support. Disciplined pragmatists are most likely to receive
support from others of women farmers.

● Product design opportunities: Disciplined Pragmatists can be served

through products that (1) leverage mobile savings comfort, (2) promote
business investment (3) transition to long-term savings

EDUCATED PLANNERS : confident, positive, digital

● Total market: 27% of Kenya women farmers | 3.9 million people

● Overview: Educated Planners are mostly young married women with

secondary education. Farming is an important source of income for
them, as are self-owned businesses and formal work.

● Financial behaviours and attitudes: Educated Planners have strong

financial health. They have a higher and more stable income than
average, and their high conscientiousness and low impulsivity mean
that the vast majority have a plan to manage their expenses.

● Product design opportunities: Educated Planners can be served

through products that (1) promote long term savings and investments,
(2) build self-esteem and agency (3) harness their influencer potential

72
Persona library, Kenya
Common segments of women smallholder farmers in Kenya

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Digital financial inclusion refers to deployment of cost-saving digital platforms in

order to provide formal financial services to financially excluded and underserved
groups. For instance, design and offering of tailored and affordable credit, savings and
insurance services to women farmers by digital financial service providers in
agrifinance in order to increase their access to finance and overall financial inclusion
Financial literacy refers to the ability to understand how money works and the ability
to manage and make informed decisions about money including how to make money,
how to budget, how to save and how to invest the money. Digital financial service
providers can design and implement targeted financial education programs for women
smallholder farmers in order to increase their financial literacy.
Gender analysis refers to the critical examination of the differences between men and
women, boys and girls, in their access to and control of resources, their roles and
responsibilities, and the constraints they face in a given situation or context relative to
each other. For instance, an assessment of the differences in access to and control of
digital agricultural solutions between women and men smallholder farmers.
Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced
actions or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their
perceived gender. For instance, male farm laborers hired by women owners are likely
to be less hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived strictness of women.
Gender intentional refers to a gender aware organisation that designs its products,
service lines, and/or investments to reduce barriers in access to resources across
genders or to increase the information base and awareness around gender gaps. For
instance an agri-input loan provider designs shorter tenure loans linked to savings
products to cater to the researched needs of female smallholder farmers.
Gender roles refer to socially determined behaviours, tasks, and responsibilities
assigned to different individuals based on perceived differences in their sex. These are
socially-prescribed norms on how people should think, act, speak, and feel based on
their perceived sex. For instance men farmers going to the market to sell produce even
if women farmers worked on the fields based on men’s role to handle money.
Gender/ social norms collectively held standards to which people are expected to
conform at different stages of their lives based on their sex or gender identity. These
are norms that seek to represent beliefs and values of what it means to male or female
in different societal contexts. For instance gendered expectations for women to engage
in unpaid caregiving work limits their time to engage in productive agricultural activities.

73
Persona library, Zambia
Primary audience
Common segments of women smallholder farmers in Zambia Gender intentional and
transformative

The persona libraries allow you to look at a diverse market such as

“women smallholder farmers” through the lens of subset of
customers with a common set of characteristics so as to design and
Tool type
implement solutions targeted towards their nuanced needs and Reading material
interests.

This persona library was originally created as a part of research by

AgriFin Accelerate Mercy Corps.

Directions to use the persona profile library: Personnel

Product teams, strategy
teams
1. It is recommended that the user begins by reading the
research on the profiles in Zambia by AgriFin Accelerate to
develop a base level understanding of the context and
background.

2. Go through the different personas in the library and take note Duration
to understand the characteristics of their financial health 5-8 hours
indicators.
GOALS
3. Based on your understanding of the personas and their
(1) Understand how various
behaviours, ideate with your teams (especially farmer facing persona profiles are created
ones like field force, sales staff) what are potential barriers and the research behind the
and drivers for adoption of financial service products among same.
women smallholder farmers.
(2) Explore common persona
types for women farmers
4. Ideate with your teams on the possible design opportunities and understand their
around creation and delivery of products and services which characteristics.
are aligned to the characteristics of the personas.
(3) Be inspired on how
persona profiles can be used
5. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some
to design products and
commonly used terms which will aid in better understanding services for women.
of some of the language.
REQUIREMENTS
(1) Understanding this tool
fully will require personnel
who have prior experience or
background in design
research, product design or
have worked with personas
before.

(2) If there are terms which

are unclear we suggest
referring to Gender concepts
glossary tool or consult your
Gender Advisor if you have
one.

74
Persona library, Zambia
Common segments of women smallholder farmers in Zambia

CUSTOMER SEGMENTS OF WOMEN FARMERS IN ZAMBIA

Based extensive research on financial health indicators and factors driving behaviour change;
the market of women smallholders in Zambia can be divided into 4 segments. Below we
show the key characteristics of the segments.
We highly recommend that users of this tool refer to the AgriFin Accelerate research to read
through the personas and the research behind creating them in more detail.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

● Activities: She is a community leader, gives financial advice,

encourages women around her to improve financial well being

● Goals: She wants to keep growing her VSLA in size, to continue

growing business, diversify into new ones

● Financial portfolio: She borrows loans for schools fees and inputs to
her farm as group savings are insufficient, she has diverse income
sources such as farming and tourism

● Needs: She requires support in reaching larger groups, in easier

money management and communication channels, accessing financing
options and bridging finance to members of her savings groups,
especially during bad cash flow periods.

THE RESTRAINED HUSTLER

● Activities: She is in two community groups and leverages her

husband’s position as an elder for her business as people trust them

● Goals: She wants to diversify her income to buy farm assets and
increase her income to start saving for bigger goals

● Financial portfolio: She spends an average of $500 yearly, farms one

season crops and short term crops to increase income, she invests in
new businesses if there is an assurance of a return and saves monthly
for inputs and household needs

● Needs: She requires support in planning and managing household

savings for longer term goal, gaining quick access to more asset
financing support and is comfortable in taking financial risk but her
options are restricted to her VSLA shares

75
Persona library, Zambia
Common segments of women smallholder farmers in Zambia

CUSTOMER SEGMENTS OF WOMEN FARMERS IN ZAMBIA

Based extensive research on financial health indicators and factors driving behaviour change;
the market of women smallholders in Zambia can be divided into 4 segments. Below we
show the key characteristics of the segments.
We highly recommend that users of this tool refer to the AgriFin Accelerate research to read
through the personas and the research behind creating them in more detail. .

THE TRIED AND TRUE

● Activities: She is very experimental and likes to try out new services,
she also diversifies her income through new farm productivity
increasing opportunities

● Goals: She wants to secure her children’s education and improve farm
productivity with quality and affordable inputs

● Financial portfolio: She accesses bridge finances from her community

lender, seeks social support from church and saves biweekly in different
groups

● Needs: She requires assistance in covering education and emergency

expenses and lowering her financial burden to allow her to pursue new
interests.

THE BURDENED BREADWINNER

● Activities: She tends to cover a lot of unexpected expenses and

emergencies which results to taking less risk because of no financial
support

● Goals: She wants to manage her household, send her children to

school and get into the grocery business

● Financial portfolio: She doesn’t trust the bank and is too afraid to
access formal credit, tried investing in the relish business but it failed,
saves for household emergencies

● Needs: She requires support in financing household needs and giving

her children the best possible education she can afford.

76
Persona library, Zambia
Common segments of women smallholder farmers in Zambia

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Digital financial inclusion refers to deployment of cost-saving digital platforms in

order to provide formal financial services to financially excluded and underserved
groups. For instance, design and offering of tailored and affordable credit, savings and
insurance services to women farmers by digital financial service providers in
agrifinance in order to increase their access to finance and overall financial inclusion
Financial literacy refers to the ability to understand how money works and the ability
to manage and make informed decisions about money including how to make money,
how to budget, how to save and how to invest the money. Digital financial service
providers can design and implement targeted financial education programs for women
smallholder farmers in order to increase their financial literacy.
Gender analysis refers to the critical examination of the differences between men and
women, boys and girls, in their access to and control of resources, their roles and
responsibilities, and the constraints they face in a given situation or context relative to
each other. For instance, an assessment of the differences in access to and control of
digital agricultural solutions between women and men smallholder farmers.
Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced
actions or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their
perceived gender. For instance, male farm laborers hired by women owners are likely
to be less hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived strictness of women.
Gender intentional refers to a gender aware organisation that designs its products,
service lines, and/or investments to reduce barriers in access to resources across
genders or to increase the information base and awareness around gender gaps. For
instance an agri-input loan provider designs shorter tenure loans linked to savings
products to cater to the researched needs of female smallholder farmers.
Gender roles refer to socially determined behaviours, tasks, and responsibilities
assigned to different individuals based on perceived differences in their sex. These are
socially-prescribed norms on how people should think, act, speak, and feel based on
their perceived sex. For instance men farmers going to the market to sell produce even
if women farmers worked on the fields based on men’s role to handle money.
Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) refers to a self-managed community
group that offers savings, credit and insurance services to its members. VSLAs mainly
serve economically vulnerable populations e.g. women farmers in rural areas who often
lack access to formal financial services. VSLAs increase access to financial services
and social capital for women SHFs, resulting in increased productivity and income

77
Gender-inclusive persona
profile Primary audience
Gender intentional and
transformative
How to develop gender inclusive customer segments

The persona profile worksheet will help you create your customer
segments with a gender lens in mind. Tool type
Worksheet

Directions to use the gender inclusive persona profile

worksheet:

1. Before using this tool, it is recommended that you collect sex

disaggregated data on your customers’ needs, activities, and Personnel
behaviours. Refer to the sex disaggregated data collection Product teams, strategy
guide here for more details. Data sources can include teams, field agents

ethnographic research, customer surveys, quantitative

metrics and secondary desk research.

2. Understand the prompts for different sections of the persona

profile and how gender can be incorporated.
Duration
5-6 hours
3. Understand the worksheet and prompts in the context of a
GOALS
hypothetical example. (1) Understand
characteristics of your core
4. Fill up the persona profile worksheet to create your own audience.
customer segments.
(2) Design better products,
services and delivery
5. A persona profile can serve various use cases as shown channels to serve women
below. Users should define upfront why they want to create smallholders.
persona profiles and how will they use them:
a. Customer insights use case - create personas to REQUIREMENTS
(1) Utilizing this tool fully will
understand your core audience better. Everyone in require investments in
the organization can use these personas. design research capacity to
b. Product design use case - create personas to gather conduct in-field interviews
information to better design products and services. and collect data.
Teams with farmer facing outputs will be best served
(2) If in-house capacity is
by these personas. limited, it is recommended
c. Internal communication use case - create personas to that a design research firm is
communicate about customer segments internally contracted.
such as with the board. Everyone in the organization
can use these. (3) A gender expert / advisor
is essential to fully draw out
d. External communication use case - create personas gender nuances. Such
to understand how to communicate with customers, expertise should either be
in-house or contracted/
6. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some
commonly used terms which will aid in better understanding (4) If there are terms which
are unclear we suggest
of some of the language. referring to Gender concepts
glossary tool or consult your
Gender Advisor.
78
Gender-inclusive persona profile
How to develop gender inclusive customer segments

GENDER-INCLUSIVE PERSONA PROFILE TEMPLATE WITH PROMPTS

Go through the below template to familiarize yourself with the various data sections that are
used to create a persona profile and refer to the specific prompts under each section which
will help you apply a gender lens. Depending upon the use case and ease of data availability,
you might only fill up a few sections. You can create personas with a subset sample of
customer data.
Persona Name: Goals & Aspirations
(What does this person hope to achieve one
Add persona day? E.g “I need access to affordable credit so
Add a general description of the persona here
image here (This will include a short background and any that I can expand my coffee acreage.”)
other major life experiences that describe and
shape who they are today) ★ Are there gendered barriers to achieving
those dreams?
★ What goals do women envision
“Quote” achieving within the constraints of their
ecosystem?

Demographic data: Roles & Responsibilities: Financial behavior:

(What roles and responsibilities does your (What are their sources of income? How much
Gender: persona hold in their day to day? E.g Buying farm is their monthly income? What is their monthly
Age: inputs, hiring labor, cooking for laborers, tilling expense? How do they spend their money?Do
Occupation: land.) they own any assets?)
Education level:
Income: ★ Note gendered differences in type and ★ Are assets owned by men only, women
Marital status division of labor between men and women only or jointly?
Family size: e.g women cook for laborers while men till ★ Do women have personal sources of
land or buy inputs income?
★ Note time poverty on women, i.e., do ★ Who makes decisions on expenditure?
women have lesser time available for Solo or joint?
income generating activities? ★ What credit facilities do women have
access to? Do they use them? Why or
why not?

Devices & Communication: Products & Services:

(What devices and gadgets do they own or have access to? E.g (Which products or services does this person use to help them
android phone, tablet, etc,) achieve their goals?)
★ Do more men than women own the devices?
★ Which products are used and preferred by women?
(What are their preferred communication channels? E.g. phone Why?
call, WhatsApp, field-force agents, etc) ★ Which products do women struggle to use?
★ Note channels preferred by women ★ Which products would they like to use but have limited
access to?

Pain points: Norms & Behaviours: Attitudes & Beliefs:

(What are the blockers to this person (What are social and cultural norms in this (What are this person’s self
meeting their needs with current person’s community or immediate context?) perceptions? Who and what do they
solutions? E.g limited access to trust? E.g low trust in formal banking)
marketplaces)
★ Note what are the common ★ Note differences between what
★ Which pain points are unique to socio-cultural norms that may women and men value, believe
women due to factors such as differentiate between women and men and trust within their
access to assets, limited in terms of power, access to resources, environments
technical skills or autonomy and agency to make decisions
agency?

★ Prompts to help you apply a gender lens during this exercise

79
Gender-inclusive persona profile
How to develop gender inclusive customer segments

GENDER-INCLUSIVE PERSONA PROFILE TEMPLATE WITH USE CASE EXAMPLE

Refer to the hypothetical example of a persona profile that was created by a Zambian digital
financial service provider for the product design use case to design new product features.
Based on the segment profile, the provider could develop a youth savings product with
monthly savings product to meet milestones like education with features like small savings
value, push reminders, additional interest on reaching goals.

Persona Name: Annie Goals & aspirations:

She is a 21 year old student, urban resident. Annie wants to become a doctor and wants to
be able to save for that.

She also wants to own a business to allow for

multiple income streams.
“I have to save for my
education..its my future after
all”

Demographic data: Roles & responsibilities: Financial behavior:

Gender: Female She works everyday at a juice shop. She earns a salary but it is not enough to meet
Age: 21 her monthly expenses and needs.
Occupation: Salaried She is the eldest sibling and is charged with
employee at a juice shop taking case of younger siblings and household She tries to save part of her monthly salary to
Education level: University chores. contribute paying for education.
Income: 1,000 ZMW per
month
Marital status: Single
Family size: Parents and
siblings

Devices & communication: Products & services:

She owns a basic feature phone. She currently only uses her mobile money account as a fixed
savings account.

Pain points: Norms & Behaviours: Attitudes & Beliefs:

She sometimes has to forego her Her father believes that she doesn’t need to She is a highly motivated individual
monthly savings to provide for save money separately, she can just ask the who sees the benefit in saving for
household needs. family when she needs to - that’s what male education which is an important life
members of the family are for. milestone for her.
She sometimes forgets to save if she is
caught up with chores.

80
Gender-inclusive persona profile
How to develop gender inclusive customer segments

GENDER-INCLUSIVE PERSONA PROFILE BLANK TEMPLATE

Based on your understanding of the data for customers and use case for the persona profile
fill up the below template to create your customer segments. Before you fill the template,
ensure you understand the use case (i.e. why do you want to create this profile) and have
relevant qualitative and quantitative data handy.

Persona Name: Goals & Aspirations

Add a general description of the persona here
Add persona
image here

“Quote”

Demographic data: Roles & Responsibilities: Financial behavior:

Devices & Communication: Products & Services:

Pain points: Norms & Behaviours: Attitudes & Beliefs:

81
Gender-inclusive persona profile
How to develop gender inclusive customer segments

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Digital financial inclusion refers to deployment of cost-saving digital platforms in

order to provide formal financial services to financially excluded and underserved
groups. For instance, design and offering of tailored and affordable credit, savings and
insurance services to women farmers by digital financial service providers in
agrifinance in order to increase their access to finance and overall financial inclusion
Financial literacy refers to the ability to understand how money works and the ability
to manage and make informed decisions about money including how to make money,
how to budget, how to save and how to invest the money. Digital financial service
providers can design and implement targeted financial education programs for women
smallholder farmers in order to increase their financial literacy.
Gender analysis refers to the critical examination of the differences between men and
women, boys and girls, in their access to and control of resources, their roles and
responsibilities, and the constraints they face in a given situation or context relative to
each other. For instance, an assessment of the differences in access to and control of
digital agricultural solutions between women and men smallholder farmers.
Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced
actions or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their
perceived gender. For instance, male farm laborers hired by women owners are likely
to be less hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived strictness of women.
Gender intentional refers to a gender aware organisation that designs its products,
service lines, and/or investments to reduce barriers in access to resources across
genders or to increase the information base and awareness around gender gaps. For
instance an agri-input loan provider designs shorter tenure loans linked to savings
products to cater to the researched needs of female smallholder farmers.
Gender roles refer to socially determined behaviours, tasks, and responsibilities
assigned to different individuals based on perceived differences in their sex. These are
socially-prescribed norms on how people should think, act, speak, and feel based on
their perceived sex. For instance men farmers going to the market to sell produce even
if women farmers worked on the fields based on men’s role to handle money.
Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) refers to a self-managed community
group that offers savings, credit and insurance services to its members. VSLAs mainly
serve economically vulnerable populations e.g. women farmers in rural areas who often
lack access to formal financial services. VSLAs increase access to financial services
and social capital for women SHFs, resulting in increased productivity and income

82
 RESOURCE
FRAMING X

TOOLS
In this section we will introduce 1 tool that
will provide support to your organization to
better budget to account for the varied needs
of serving women and men smallholders.

These tool is in a guidebook format. The tool

can be used internally within organizations to
understand the various parts of a budget that
can vary by gender and should be accounted
for.

83
Resource framing tools
Understand how to allocate resources for different gendered needs

This section includes tools to develop a better understanding of resources and budgets can
be allocated to account for varying needs of women and men customers.

Click on each tool to access them directly.

GENDER RESPONSIVE BUDGETING GUIDE

○ Guide to unpack how the budgeting process can vary to cater for women
and men smallholders’ needs.
○ Use this tool to understand internally within your organization how you
might vary your resource allocation and budgets to make your activities
more gender inclusive.

84
Gender responsive
budgeting guide Primary audience
Gender intentional and
Best practices to create and allocate budgets based on gender needs transformative

Gender responsive budgeting or gender sensitive budgeting is a

resource framing tool that ensures that farmer facing organizations’ Tool type
budgets respond to the needs of all clients and customers. Gender Guide
responsive budgeting is as much about inclusive outcomes as it is
about inclusive processes. This implies for a useful budgeting
outcome, men, women and gender diverse groups should be able to
engage meaningfully.
Personnel
This guide is meant to spark your thinking on how various steps in Department heads
the budgeting process can include a gender lens and better serve
women smallholders. What is guide is not meant to be is a standard
template to generate budgets as gender responsive budgets will be
nuanced depending upon the organization and department.
Duration
This tool can be used with the sex disaggregated data collection 5-8 hours
guide (access here), the customer segmentation tools (access here)
and go-to-market tools (access here).

Directions to use the gender responsive budgeting guide: GOALS

(1) Understand if and how
budgeting policies might be
1. The guide is set in the context of a marketing and branding creating gender biases.
budget for better understanding, however the same can be
used for other use cases such as research budgets, overall (2) Unpack resource needs
business budgets, hiring and recruitment budgets etc. to serve men and women
smallholders.

2. Go through the steps of creating a gender responsive (3) Understand how

marketing budget and the example in the following, taking budgeting can be used to
note to understand the key prompts for gender lens and how mainstream gender.
that impacts budgeting decisions.
REQUIREMENTS
3. Ideate with your teams on the possible iterations in your (1) Utilizing this tool will
current budget after taking into account a gender lens. require access to or
understanding of prior years’
budgets and data.
4. If possible, the iterated gender responsive budget should be (2) Availability of the finance
included in this financial year’s budgetary provision. If not, or accounting team will be
consider including it from the following year. required.
(3) Availability of a gender
advisor or expert will be
5. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some beneficial
commonly used terms which will aid in better understanding of (4) If there are terms which
some of the language. are unclear refer to the
Gender concepts glossary or
consult your Gender Advisor.

85
Gender responsive budgeting guide
Best practices to create and allocate budgets based on gender needs

GENDER RESPONSIVE MARKETING BUDGET GUIDE WITH PROMPTS

Go through the below template to familiarize yourself with the various steps in a marketing
and branding budget where gender lens can be incorporated.

Identify key marketing approaches that will reach a wider audience

(What are the various above the line mass media and below the line targeted media approaches that can be adopted to reach farmer
groups?)

★ Are there gender differences in which men and female farmers interact with different marketing approaches? For example,
if using market days for creating awareness of a product or service will it reach women farmers equally considering that it
might be mostly men farmers attending such days?
★ Are there social norms which promote certain types of marketing approaches over others?

Determine allocation of resources to reach men and women farmers

(What are the resources required to create awareness among farmers and what are the channels to deliver the message?)

★ Are there gender differences in the level of awareness between men and women farmers for a given product or service?
★ Does reaching women farmers need higher level of resources for field agents than men farmers?
★ Are there gender roles or social norms which lead to differences in the way men and women farmers prefer to be reached?

Determine allocation of resources to reach different women groups

(Do various customer segments within a market have different requirements in terms of channel through which the message is
delivered?)

★ Do all groups of women farmers interact the same way with the product or service?
★ What are the variations in the profiles of different women customer segments that might impact how they are reached?

Monitor effectiveness and impact

(Did the marketing and branding activities lead to improved business metrics such as higher brand recall, increased customer acquisition,
increased conversion rates. etc. ?)

★ Did different promotion patterns between men and women and between women farmer groups lead to varied uptake of
products and services?

86
Gender responsive budgeting guide
Best practices to create and allocate budgets based on gender needs

GENDER RESPONSIVE MARKETING BUDGET GUIDE WITH EXAMPLE

Below is an example of a Kenyan farm input provider aiming to create a gender responsive
marketing budget to promote its new range of products.

Identify key marketing approaches that will reach a wider audience

Company X is planning to introduce a new range of farm inputs such as fertilizers and animal products to
Katani Village in Kenya. Their marketing and branding department wants to launch a campaign for the
products. Keeping in mind that their previous campaigns in other villages (which were mostly focussed on
doing talks and demonstration drives during market days) were able to reach more men than women, this
time round they are keen on reaching more women customers.

Determine allocation of resources to reach men and women farmers

Part of launching their campaign is drafting a budget for it. They have to place different factors into
consideration such as, which marketing mediums do women farmers respond best to, which locations is it
easy to find them, are they technologically savvy, do they prefer face to face interactions? etc. These factors
will determine the costs that will go into the marketing and branding campaigns and eventually affect the
budget. They understand that they should not allocate their entire budget to market day activation drives as
fewer women attend them and they might need targeted branding for women such as going through farming
associations or savings groups.

Determine allocation of resources to reach different women groups

After deciding on allocating a part of the branding budget to promote to women’s savings groups, they note
that women in this village are also involved in various women groups. These groups have a huge influence in
the decision making processes of women, their purchase decisions, their savings habits and cultures etc. The
company also has to be aware of the different socio-economic statuses of the groups because that will
determine how to approach them and how to allocate resources to different approaches. They decide to target
two types of savings groups - one which is used by older women with just farming income and another that is
used by younger women with diversified income sources.

Monitor effectiveness and impact

At the end of the campaign, they will be able to compare the different promotions patterns and results from
different campaigns to determine whether a gender responsive budgeting plan will be effective in reaching
more women customers in the long run. To do this they compared the ratio of sales per women group
targeted and the branding budget allocated to them and looked at if that varied from men and from other
regions where they did not have gender targeted budgeting. They found that for older women the branding
through savings groups was highly effective in getting higher sales, as these women trusted their groups to
make any such input investment decision.

87
Gender responsive budgeting guide
Best practices to create and allocate budgets based on gender needs

GENDER RESPONSIVE MARKETING BUDGET GUIDE - BLANK TEMPLATE

Based on your understanding of the data for customers and use case for the budgeting
template, use the below blank template as a guide to create your own gender responsive
marketing and branding budget.

Identify key marketing approaches that will reach a wider audience

Determine allocation of resources to reach men and women farmers

Determine allocation of resources to reach different women groups

Monitor effectiveness and impact

88
Gender responsive budgeting guide
Best practices to create and allocate budgets based on gender needs

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Gender analysis refers to the critical examination of the differences between men
and women, boys and girls, in their access to and control of resources, their roles and
responsibilities, and the constraints they face in a given situation or context relative to
each other. For instance, an assessment of the differences in access to and control of
digital agricultural solutions between women and men smallholder farmers.
Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced
actions or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their
perceived gender. For instance, male farm laborers hired by women farm owners are
likely to be less hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived strictness of
women.
Gender intentional refers to a gender aware organisation that designs its products,
service lines, and/or investments to reduce barriers in access to resources across
genders or to increase the information base and awareness around gender gaps. For
instance an agri-input loan provider designs shorter tenure loans linked to savings
products to cater to the researched needs of female smallholder farmers.
Gender lens refers to a perspective that aims to identify and understand gendered
power differences and biases among different groups in economic, social and legal
contexts by analysing the relationship between different gendered groups, their
access to resources and opportunities, and the constraints they face relative to each
other.

Gender mainstreaming / integration is a process that involves embedding of a

gender perspective into the entire spectrum of an organization’s activities including its
strategies, structures, policies, culture, systems and operations. It ensures that the
needs and interests of all genders are included in the design, implementation, and
M&E of any planned activity.

Gender roles refer to socially determined behaviours, tasks, and responsibilities

assigned to different individuals based on perceived differences in their sex.
These are socially-prescribed norms on how people should think, act, speak, and
feel based on their perceived sex. For instance men farmers going to the market
to sell produce even if women farmers worked on the fields based on men’s role
to handle money.

89
 GO-TO-MARKET X
TOOLS
In this section we will introduce 2 tools that will
provide support to your organization to better
understand your women customers and how
they interact with and experience your products
and services.

These tools are in a participatory worksheet

format. The tools can be used to assess and
design external activities, as well as, to drive
conversations and internal strategic decisions.

90
Go-to-market tools
Understand how to design better products and business models for women

This section includes tools to develop a better understanding of how women experience and
interact with your products and services and business models can be made more gender
inclusive.
Click on each tool to access them directly.

GENDER INCLUSIVE CUSTOMER JOURNEY WORKSHEET

○ Worksheet to capture a specific persona’s experience with your product

or service at various stages of interaction.
○ Use this tool to understand internally within your organization how
various customer segments interact with your product and service.

GENDER INCLUSIVE BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS WORKSHEET

○ Worksheet to analyse and assess all key aspects of your business model
through a gender lens.
○ Use this tool to understand which internal and external activities can be
improved / changed / redesigned to be more gender inclusive and
gender transformative.

91
Gender inclusive customer
journey worksheet Primary audience
Gender transformative
How to map customer interactions and experiences

This gender-inclusive customer journey map will enable you to

identify and visualize what a persona’s experience is with your Tool type
product, service or brand at various touch points from a gender Worksheet
inclusion perspective, so that you can highlight any missing gaps for
which you can design interventions and enhance your product.

Directions to use the gender inclusive customer journey

worksheet: Personnel
Sales teams, field agents,
product development teams
1. Before using this tool, it is recommended that you outline
your customer persona. You can refer to the customer
segmentations tools (access here) to understand common
personas or create your own customer segmentations.
Duration
2. Define the key stages of interaction with your product and 6-8 hours
service for the given persona.

3. Go through the sample worksheet and prompts in the context

of a hypothetical example for better understanding. GOALS
(1) Understand how to
evaluate interactions of
4. Fill up the customer journey worksheet based on discussion various customer segments
with relevant teams. with your product or service.

5. Journey maps can have various use cases as shown below.

Users should identify upfront why they want to create one
and how will they use it. REQUIREMENTS
(1) Utilizing this tool will
a. Customer experience evaluation use case - use require availability of
journeys to understand experiences of various information on customers.
segments with your product or service and use that to
enhance offerings (2) Availability of in-house
b. Product innovation use case - use journeys to user research expertise
would be beneficial or can
understand how customer segments would interact be contracted.
with a new product / innovative feature
c. Internal communication and awareness use case - (3) Availability of a gender
use journeys to communicate customer experiences advisor or expert will be
and pain points internally within the organization beneficial.

(4) If there are terms which

6. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some are unclear we suggest
commonly used terms which will aid in better understanding referring to Gender concepts
of some of the language. glossary tool or consult your
Gender Advisor if you have
one.

92
Gender inclusive customer journey
worksheet
How to map customer interactions and experiences

GENDER INCLUSIVE CUSTOMER JOURNEY WORKSHEET WITH PROMPTS

Go through the below template to familiarize yourself with the various stages of a customer
journey and refer to the specific prompts under each section which will help you apply a
gender lens. You can modify these stages as per your needs.

PERSONA NAME: JOURNEY NAME

(Use a persona you have identified from research) (Define the journey you want to improve)

Stages Awareness Evaluation Acquisition Retention Advocacy

List all stages Customer finds Customer assesses Customer uses the Customer is a Customer
chronologically out about the whether to use the product or service repeat user encourages others
from awareness product / service product / service or to use the product /
to repeat use not service

Describe the actions your persona takes at each stage to interact with your product
★ What activities does the woman need to undertake to interact with your product or
Touchpoint service?
★ What are the social norms or gender norms that impact various touchpoints?

Product What feelings to these actions evoke in the persona? (Use one of these emojis to describe
experience feelings)

Define the main product features the persona interacts with across stages
Key features ★ Which features do women enjoy & use comfortably?
★ Which features frustrate women?

What channels does the persona use to access the product or service
Channels ★ Which channels do women use more and which do they prefer? Why?
★ Which are a barrier to access and continued use?

Describe the problems they run into as they use the product or service
★ What barriers do women face as they interact with your product?
Pain points
★ What social norms and barriers do women face as they interact with your product?
★ Do women have misconceptions about your product or service? Why?

How can you address these pain points

★ What interventions can be designed to address this woman’s pain points?
Opportunity
★ What new features, messages, products and services can be introduced to
address pain points?
★ Are there opportunities to address barriers from social norms?

★ Prompts to help you apply a gender lens during this exercise

93
Gender inclusive customer journey
worksheet
How to map customer interactions and experiences

GENDER INCLUSIVE CUSTOMER JOURNEY WORKSHEET WITH EXAMPLE

Refer to the hypothetical example of a customer journey map created by a Kenyan digital
financial service provider for the customer experience use case to enhance product features.
Based on the customer journey insights, the provider can enhance some product features
(such as flexible repayment options) and marketing channels so cater to mobility barriers that
women face.
Careful striver Input loan application & use
PERSONA NAME: JOURNEY NAME
(Use a persona you have identified from research) (Define the journey you want to improve)

Stages Awareness Evaluation Acquisition Retention Advocacy

List all stages Customer finds Customer assesses Customer uses the Customer is a Customer
chronologically out about the whether to use the product or service repeat user encourages others
from awareness product / service product / service or to use the product /
to repeat use not service

Hears about the Gathers additional Uses product after Uses product so
product from other Tells friends to apply
Touchpoint information, consults training with field next season after
for the loan
farmer friends spouse agents talking to agent

Product
experience

Are able to
Apply using the
Key features USSD app
service the loan
on the USSD app

Prefer using
Prefer talking to
mobile based
Channels agents in-person
servicing for
for application
convenience

Other competing
Cannot attend Do not fully expenses lead to
Pain points activation drives understand all the late payments,
on market days as terms of the loan inability to get
they are far away more loans

Recruit field
Conduct agents for
activation drives Offer flexible
Opportunity in-person repayment
closer to where explanation of
women can attend options
products

94
Gender inclusive customer journey
worksheet
How to map customer interactions and experiences

GENDER INCLUSIVE CUSTOMER JOURNEY WORKSHEET BLANK TEMPLATE

Based on your understanding of the customer profile and use case, fill up the below journey
map worksheet.

PERSONA NAME: JOURNEY NAME

(Use a persona you have identified from research) (Define the journey you want to improve)

Stages Awareness Evaluation Acquisition Retention Advocacy

List all stages Customer finds Customer assesses Customer uses the Customer is a Customer
chronologically out about the whether to use the product or service repeat user encourages others
from awareness product / service product / service or to use the product /
to repeat use not service

Touchpoint

Product
experience

Key features

Channels

Pain points

Opportunity

95
Gender inclusive customer journey
worksheet
How to map customer interactions and experiences

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Gender analysis refers to the critical examination of the differences between men
and women, boys and girls, in their access to and control of resources, their roles
and responsibilities, and the constraints they face in a given situation or context
relative to each other. For instance, an assessment of the differences in access to
and control of digital agricultural solutions between women and men smallholder
farmers.
Gender based constraints refer to formal laws, attitudes, perceptions, values, or
practices that limit people’s access to resources and/or opportunities based on
their sex or gender identity. For instance, cultural norms that limit women’s
ownership of agricultural land are gender-based constraints.
Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced
actions or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their
perceived gender. For instance, male farm laborers hired by women farm owners
are likely to be less hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived strictness
of women.

Gender lens refers to a perspective that aims to identify and understand

gendered power differences and biases among different groups in economic,
social and legal contexts by analysing the relationship between different gendered
groups, their access to resources and opportunities, and the constraints they face
relative to each other.
Gender roles refer to socially determined behaviours, tasks, and responsibilities
assigned to different individuals based on perceived differences in their sex.
These are socially-prescribed norms on how people should think, act, speak, and
feel based on their perceived sex. For instance men farmers going to the market
to sell produce even if women farmers worked on the fields based on men’s role
to handle money.

Gender/ social norms collectively held standards to which people are expected
to conform at different stages of their lives based on their sex or gender identity.
These are norms that seek to represent beliefs and values of what it means to
male or female in different societal contexts. For instance gendered expectations
for women to engage in unpaid caregiving work limits their time to engage in
productive agricultural activities.

96
Gender inclusive business
model canvas Primary audience
Gender transformative
How to adapt a gender lens for business models

This gender-inclusive business model canvas will enable you to

quickly analyse key aspects of your business model such as your Tool type
partners, customers, activities, distributors, employees, suppliers, Worksheet
and the unique value you add, from a gender inclusion perspective.

Directions to use the gender inclusive business model canvas:

1. The business model canvas has the building blocks of starting Personnel
Department heads, strategy
an organization. However, you should aim to revisit it teams
periodically, especially as your organization goes through
strategic changes.

2. Go through the sample worksheet and prompts to get a better

understanding of the sections that you will need to fill and
Duration
discuss with your team. 6-8 hours

3. Start with the sections in the middle of value proposition and

impact, move to the sections on the top and then eventually
work through the sections at the bottom. GOALS
(1) Understand how aspects
of your business model and
4. Business model canvases can have various use cases as strategy can incorporate a
shown below. Users should identify upfront why they want to gender lens..
use the canvas and what purpose will it serve
a. Strategizing use case - use business model canvas to
development overall or functional strategy or REQUIREMENTS
retrospectively analyze prior strategy (1) Utilizing this tool will
b. Alignment use case - use business model canvas to require availability of
alignment between leadership teams and departments information on all aspects of
and value (revenue) and infrastructure (costs) sides the business model.
c. Communication and awareness use case - use (2) Availability of most if not
business model canvas to communicate within the all department and team
organization in a shared language and for strategy heads will be beneficial..
diffusion and co-creation
(3) Availability of a gender
advisor or expert will be
5. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some beneficial.
commonly used terms which will aid in better understanding
of some of the language. (4) If there are terms which
are unclear we suggest
referring to Gender concepts
glossary tool or consult your
Gender Advisor if you have
one.

97
Gender inclusive business model
canvas
How to adapt a gender lens for business models

GENDER INCLUSIVE BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS WITH PROMPTS

Go through the below template to familiarize yourself with the various parts of a business
model canvas and refer to the specific prompts under each section which will help you apply
a gender lens.

KEY PARTNERS KEY ACTIVITIES KEY RESOURCES

★ Are there opportunities for both male ★ Can they be implemented by both men ★ Are physical resources such as
and female partners to come on board? and women? technology and equipment accessible to
★ Do you have policies that ensure ★ Is the work ecosystem in which they are both men and women?
women are included in partner implemented suitable for women? ★ Do men & women have equal
selection? ★ How many men and women employees opportunities for recruitment & career
★ Are your partners gender-inclusive in do you have? advancement?
the way they run their organisation? ★ How many women are in management?

COST STRUCTURE

★ For your human resources, do men and women receive equal remuneration for equal work?
★ Does your company invest in working conditions that meet the specific needs of women? E.g.maternity policies, nursing facilities at the
workplace, etc

VALUE PROPOSITION IMPACT

★ Are you considering the needs of women in your solution? ★ How does the environment, community, society benefit from
★ Can your product or service solve problems women specifically your gender-inclusion efforts?
face? ★ How do employees, partners and customers benefit from
★ Why should women use your product as opposed to that of gender-inclusive approaches?
competitors

CUSTOMER RELATIONS CUSTOMER SEGMENTS CHANNELS

★ Do you have dedicated personal ★ How do women prefer to be reached? ★ Are your customers mostly men or
assistance to support women as they ★ Are your sales force distribution women?
buy & use your product? e.g using field channels made of more men or ★ How can you serve more women than
force agents in onboarding, training women? men?
★ Are there feedback channels that allow ★ Do you understand who influences your
input from men and women to improve customer’s purchase decisions?
product and service experience?

REVENUE STREAMS

★ Does your company consider the spending powers of women customers?

★ Does your company think about credit options accessible and affordable to women?
★ Does your company consider the payment options preferred by women?

★ Prompts to help you apply a gender lens during this exercise

98
Gender inclusive business model
canvas
How to adapt a gender lens for business models

GENDER INCLUSIVE BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS WITH EXAMPLE

Below is an example of a canvas created by a Kenyan digital financial service provider. Based
on the canvas the provider could alter its strategy to incorporate more women centred external
partners, especially those who can reach women farmers and push the needle towards gender
transformation.

KEY PARTNERS KEY ACTIVITIES KEY RESOURCES

★ Some of our partners are gender ★ ★

transformative, others not explicitly so

COST STRUCTURE

★ We follow a pay equity policy and majority of our internal staff are female

VALUE PROPOSITION IMPACT

★ Our products are more catered towards all smallholders rather ★ By reaching more women with financial products they can
than specifically women smallholders increase their productivity and resilience and livelihoods

CUSTOMER RELATIONS CUSTOMER SEGMENTS CHANNELS

★ Our field agents collect feedback from ★ Our sales staff are mostly men as they ★ We have an almost equal number of
both women and men customers are able to travel to far off locations women and men customers
★ Sometimes it is not easy to get time ★ We have heard that women find it ★ The value of loans of women customers
from women to give feedback as they easier to talk to female staff is low, we need to understand why they
have other activities to take care of dont take higher value loans

REVENUE STREAMS

★ We do not have financial products with specific features for women

★ Prompts to help you apply a gender lens during this exercise

99
Gender inclusive business model
canvas
How to adapt a gender lens for business models

GENDER INCLUSIVE BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS BLANK TEMPLATES

Fill up the below business canvas template with discussion with your team.

KEY PARTNERS KEY ACTIVITIES KEY RESOURCES

COST STRUCTURE

VALUE PROPOSITION IMPACT

CUSTOMER RELATIONS CUSTOMER SEGMENTS CHANNELS

REVENUE STREAMS

100
Gender inclusive business model
canvas
How to adapt a gender lens for business models

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Gender analysis refers to the critical examination of the differences between men and
women, boys and girls, in their access to and control of resources, their roles and
responsibilities, and the constraints they face in a given situation or context relative to each
other. For instance, an assessment of the differences in access to and control of digital
agricultural solutions between women and men smallholder farmers.

Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced actions
or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their perceived gender.
For instance, male farm laborers hired by women farm owners are likely to be less
hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived strictness of women.

Gender lens refers to a perspective that aims to identify and understand gendered power
differences and biases among different groups in economic, social and legal contexts by
analysing the relationship between different gendered groups, their access to resources
and opportunities, and the constraints they face relative to each other.

Gender mainstreaming / integration is a process that involves embedding of a gender

perspective into the entire spectrum of an organization’s activities including its strategies,
structures, policies, culture, systems and operations. It ensures that the needs and interests
of all genders are included in the design, implementation, and M&E of any planned activity.

Gender roles refer to socially determined behaviours, tasks, and responsibilities assigned
to different individuals based on perceived differences in their sex. These are
socially-prescribed norms on how people should think, act, speak, and feel based on their
perceived sex. For instance men farmers going to the market to sell produce even if women
farmers worked on the fields based on men’s role to handle money.

Gender transformative refers to an organisation that aims to achieve gender

empowerment and equity designs its products, service lines, and/or investments to reduce
barriers in not only access to resources but also in agency and control over resources. For
instance an agri-input loan provider can incorporate strategies to reach out to include
women smallholder customers to make the final decision on loan disbursal after approval
without spousal consent.

101
 MONITORING,
LEARNING & X
EVALUATION
TOOLS
In this section we will introduce 2 tools that
will provide support to your organization to
better understand how to monitor, evaluate
and socialise the impacts of your gender
transformative approaches.

These tools are both in a participatory

worksheet and guide format. The tools can
be used to assess and design external
activities, as well as, to drive conversations
and internal strategic decisions.

102
Monitoring, learning & evaluation
tools
Understand how to assess and socialise your impacts

This section includes tools to develop a better understanding of how women are impacted by
your gender transformative approaches and how to socialise the same within the broader
ecosystem.

Click on each tool to access them directly.

GENDER IMPACT ASSESSMENT GUIDE

○ Guidelines and sample metrics to assist in monitoring and evaluation of

your scale and depth of socio-economic impact on women farmers.
○ Use this tool to understand internally within your organization how your
business activities impact women and where you can drive greater
impact.
○ Use this tool to discuss with external stakeholders (like funders) the
nature of impact your business creates.

CASE STUDY DESIGN TEMPLATE

○ Guidelines to design case studies to communicate your experience and

impact created.
○ Use this tool internally to disseminate your learnings broadly within your
organization.
○ Use this tool to disseminate and communicate learnings to ecosystem
players.

103
Gender impact assessment
guide Primary audience: Funders,
Gender transformative
Best practices and indicators to monitor and assess impact of gender
transformative activities

Farmer facing organizations and grantmakers and investors can use

this guide to learn how to organize and analyse data on the Tool type
socio-economic impacts of their activities on women smallholder Guide
farmers. This guide and the accompanying template iis meant to be
customisable and buildable by the organizations using it and the
sections are meant to be a guiding framework for assessment rather
than mandatory sections to fill. The template has been adapted from
the current work in the space by GIIN and Impact Management Personnel
Department heads, impact
Project. assessment expert

This tool provides an overview of a framework to monitor and

evaluate impact, and sample and non-exhaustive questions and
indicators to measure impact.
Duration
This tool is best used with other tools which provide complementary 6-8 hours
details and information such as persona profiles of customers
(access here), journey maps of clients (access here), sex
disaggregated data collection tools (access here) and gender
integration guide (access here). GOALS
(1) Understand how to codify
the impacts of your gender
Directions to use the gender impact assessment guide: transformative approaches.

1. Go through the impact assessment framework and sample

indicators and questions to familiarise yourself with the key
types of data and information required to measure and
REQUIREMENTS
evaluate impact. (1) Utilizing this tool will
require availability of
2. Collect data on the indicators that are best suited for your accurate and complete data
organization. It is key that such data is collected through the and information on business
lifecycle of a product or service and is also collected activities.
periodically to evaluate the changes in impact. (2) Availability of an impact
lead or expert is advised.
3. Evaluate your organization’s (or key business activities’)
impact based on the criteria and map what your current (3) Availability of a gender
impact looks like versus an ideal impact score. advisor or expert will be
beneficial.

4. Based on the above evaluation, determine which are the (4) If there are terms which
areas where you can continue to drive greater impact or are unclear we suggest
channel additional resources. referring to Gender concepts
glossary tool or consult your
Gender Advisor if you have
5. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some one.
commonly used terms which will aid in better understanding
of some of the language.

104
Gender impact assessment guide
Best practices and indicators to monitor and assess impact of gender transformative activities

FRAMEWORK AND SAMPLE INDICATORS TO MONITOR AND EVALUATE IMPACT

Below framework provide a guide on how organizations can think about monitoring and
evaluating impact on women smallholders. There are also specific sample questions for each
category that organizations should aim to answer during their journey to monitor and evaluate
impact.

WHAT : What is(are) the impact goal(s) of the organization / project / product or service line?

● Support (women) smallholder farmers increase yields through good agriculture practices
● Support (women) smallholders to become more climate resilient
● Support increased financial inclusion of (women) smallholder farmers
● ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
● ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
● ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

WHO : Who are the primary and secondary beneficiaries?

● Rural smallholders in East Africa

● Women smallholder farmers in Kenya
● Older women smallholders in East Africa
● ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
● ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
● ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

IMPACT : What are the indicators to measure scale and depth of impact at an aggregate and
intra-household level?

● Number of unique (women) smallholder farmers reporting changes (increase / decrease) in agriculture
yields
● Number of unique (women) smallholder farmers reporting increased access to training and rural
advisory services
● Number of unique (women) smallholder farmers reporting an increase in the approval and redemption of
agriculture credit products
● Number and percentage of women smallholder farmers reporting an increase in decision-making power
over credit and financial decisions
● Number and percentage of women smallholder farmers participating in farming associations
● Number and percentage of women smallholder farmers who are members of informal or formal farming
groups
● Percentage increase in (women) smallholder farmers access and ownership to productive resources
(e.g., land, machinery, irrigation facilities, etc.)
● Number and percentage of (women) smallholder farmers using mobile phones to access and adopt
agriculture innovations
● Number and percentage of (women) smallholder farmers reporting increased financial independence
● Number and percentage of (women) smallholder farmers reporting making their own decisions when it
comes to purchasing inputs or other financial outlay
● ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
● ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
● ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

105
Gender impact assessment guide
Best practices and indicators to monitor and assess impact of gender transformative activities

FRAMEWORK AND SAMPLE INDICATORS TO MONITOR AND EVALUATE IMPACT

Below framework provide a guide on how organizations can think about monitoring and
evaluating impact on women smallholders. There are also specific sample questions for each
category that organizations should aim to answer during their journey to monitor and evaluate
impact.

ADDITIONALITY : Would the contribution to impact have happened either way, without the
intervention?

● Counterfactual depth of impact which would have happened anyway due to broader market or social
system evolution
● Evidence from other organizations (competitors) who are already performing similar activities with
similar target customer segments
● ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
● ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

RISKS : What is the likelihood and scale of risk of impact being different that expected or
intended?

● Probability that activities are not delivered as planned and thus do not have the desired outcome
(execution risk)
● Probability that needs and expectations of stakeholders are not accounted or misrepresented
(stakeholder risk)
● Probability that impact is not in lockstep with the enterprise business model (alignement risk)
● Probability that positive impact does not endure (drop off risk)
● Probably that the activities might create some gender-related backlash or violence within the community
or households
● Probability that assets might be lost from women if they become too valuable
● ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
● ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
● ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

106
Gender impact assessment guide
Best practices and indicators to monitor and assess impact of gender transformative activities

COMMON DATA COLLECTION METHODS

Below are some of the common ways to collect qualitative and quantitative sex
disaggregated data to do impact assessments:

● Company data - use sex disaggregated data collected by the organization during core
business activities to understand the gender composition and orientation of internal
organization and business activities
● Focus group discussions - discussions of target beneficiaries or other key stakeholders
in a moderated environment
● In-person surveys - one on one interviews with stakeholders to allow for exploring
more complex questions
● Mobile surveys - SMS or IVR short surveys
● Diaries / journals / log keeping - records of activities of target stakeholders /
beneficiaries or other key stakeholders over time to understand the changes in
behaviour and impact

While collecting data through any of the above methods, it is key to be aware of inherent
gender biases in various data collection methods, some examples of which are mentioned
below.

● Company data - some companies may not have complete or accurate sex
disaggregated data or there might be potential bias in the way the data was collected
in the first place
● Focus group discussions - if men’s and women’s value are not equally valued in a
community then in a mixed gender group discussion women may be hesitant to voice
opinions and there might be a need to have separate group discussions for men and
women participants
● In-person surveys - due to time poverty, women respondents may not be able to
devote as much time and attention as needed for in person surveys.
● Mobile surveys - women may lack ownership of devices or may not be able to use
them as much as men and thus may not be able to respond to surveys through
devices

107
Gender impact assessment guide
Best practices and indicators to monitor and assess impact of gender transformative activities

FRAMEWORK TO ASSESS IMPACT

For each of the categories and questions mentioned previously, organizations should reflect
on they would score towards achieving high impact and then assess their top level impact.
Based on this evaluation an organization will be able to map which are the areas they need to
channel more efforts towards to reach a high score. An ideal score will be ‘High’ across all
categories.
As this is an internal assessment of an organization, we recommend following the rubric as
honestly as possible to accurately understand where impact can be created.

CATEGORY and
IMPACT SCORE
CRITERIA

WHAT: Clear articulation HIGH (very clear MEDIUM (there is some LOW (no clear
of impact goals and articulation and high level articulation of articulation and
theory of change understanding of impact the impact goals but the understanding of impact
goals and theory of clarity can be improved) goals and theory of
change) change)

WHO: Clear HIGH (clear identification MEDIUM (identification of LOW (no identification or
understanding of and understanding of beneficiaries but understanding of
beneficiaries beneficiary profiles) insufficient understanding beneficiary profiles)
of profiles)

IMPACT: Evidence of HIGH (exhaustive MEDIUM (insufficient LOW (no monitoring of

outcomes monitoring of impact monitoring of impact impact metrics to
metrics to measure metrics to measure measure breadth and
breadth and depth of breadth and depth of depth of impact)
impact) impact)

ADDITIONALITY: HIGH (the level of MEDIUM (the level of LOW (the level of
Evidence of contribution socio-economic impact socio-economic impact socio-economic impact
would not have would have happened would have happened
happened without the but has been speedened any way due to market
current intervention) due to the current evolution and policy
intervention) changes)

RISKS: Clear HIGH (clear MEDIUM (understanding LOW (no understanding

understanding of risks understanding of risks of risks but no presence of risks or presence of
and mitigation plans and presence of of mitigation plans) mitigation plans)
mitigation plans)

108
Gender impact assessment guide
Best practices and indicators to monitor and assess impact of gender transformative activities

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Advisory and information services refers to digitally delivered information on topics

such as agronomic best practices, pests and diseases, market prices, farming
techniques that are tailored to specific farmer segments and that enable farmers to
make informed decisions that maximise their agricultural output. Increasing access to
advisory and information services for women farmers increases their productivity.

Gender analysis refers to the critical examination of the differences between men and
women, boys and girls, in their access to and control of resources, their roles and
responsibilities, and the constraints they face in a given situation or context relative to
each other. For instance, an assessment of the differences in access to and control of
digital agricultural solutions between women and men smallholder farmers.

Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced

actions or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their
perceived gender. For instance, male farm laborers hired by women farm owners are
likely to be less hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived strictness of
women.

Gender lens refers to a perspective that aims to identify and understand gendered
power differences and biases among different groups in economic, social and legal
contexts by analysing the relationship between different gendered groups, their access
to resources and opportunities, and the constraints they face relative to each other.

Sex disaggregated data refers to quantitative and qualitative data collected and
presented by sex that allows for measurement of socio-economic and socio-cultural
differences between men and women. For example, collection of data on the number of
women and men smallholder farmers that use digital tools for agriculture separately in
order to measure the gendered differences.

109
Case study design
template Primary audience
Funders, Gender
How to socialise learnings and impact stories transformative

This case study design template will enable an organisation to

conduct a holistic and comprehensive review of their gender Tool type
transformation experience. Worksheet

It will help an organisation think through their entire gender

transformation journey, outlining the key problem statement and
objectives, the approach used, the results of the process, impact
achieved and lessons learned through the experience. Personnel
Impact assessment expert,
communications team
Through this an organisation can design viable next steps to
increase their impact.

Directions to use the case study design template:

Duration
1. Go through the case study design template to familiarize 6-8 hours
yourself with the data types of information you would need to
create a compelling case study.

2. Collect information and data from various departments to GOALS

(1) Understand how to
start drafting the case study. Here you can also utilize data evaluate your gender
and information from the gender impact assessment (access transformative journey and
guide here). socialise learnings

3. Outline next steps of where your organization can continue

to work and create further impact.
REQUIREMENTS
(1) Utilizing this tool will
4. Share the case study on your organization website, public require availability of
sources (like ImpactAlpha, Next Billion etc.) and with other accurate and complete data
ecosystem players. and information on business
activities.
5. At the end of the tool we have provided a glossary of some
(2) Availability of a
commonly used terms which will aid in better understanding communications personnel is
of some of the language. beneficial.

(3) Availability of a gender

advisor or expert will be
beneficial.

(4) If there are terms which

are unclear we suggest
referring to Gender concepts
glossary tool or consult your
Gender Advisor if you have
one.

110
Case study design template
How to socialise learnings and impact stories

FRAMEWORK TO DEVELOP YOUR CASE STUDY

Below framework provides a four-step process for organizations to develop their own case
studies around the impact created by their gender transformative approaches.

INTRODUCE THE CASE STUDY

What is the problem statement?

● Why did you decide to integrate gender into your work?
● Who are the key beneficiaries? Is there a particular segment of women farmers?
● What is the key issue you seek to address?
● How did you find out about this issue?

Use the space below to jot down ideas

What is the problem context?

● How does your internal environment (i.e. integration of a gender lens in product design or lack thereof,
etc) affect the uptake of your products or services by women farmers?
● How does your external environment (i.e social cultural norms, policies that don’t favor women farmers,
etc.) affect your work with women smallholder farmers?

Use the space below to jot down ideas

What are the key objectives?

● What are the specific goals you hope to achieve with your gender transformation journey?

Use the space below to jot down ideas

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Case study design template
How to socialise learnings and impact stories

FRAMEWORK TO DEVELOP YOUR CASE STUDY

Below framework provides a four-step process for organizations to develop their own case
studies around the impact created by their gender transformative approaches.

OUTLINE YOUR APPROACH

What research did you do to increase your understanding on the gender transformation
process?

Use the space below to jot down ideas

What activities did you integrate into your work to increase your gender impact?

Use the space below to jot down ideas

How did you ensure that these changes has positive social impacts on women smallholders?

Use the space below to jot down ideas

How did you measure the impact on women smallholders? How do you measure your return
on investment?

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How did you scale your impact? How did you collect feedback to iterate your activities?

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Case study design template
How to socialise learnings and impact stories

FRAMEWORK TO DEVELOP YOUR CASE STUDY

Below framework provides a four-step process for organizations to develop their own case
studies around the impact created by their gender transformative approaches.

CODIFY YOUR LEARNINGS AND RESULTS

What were the results?

● What was the outcome from integrating gender in your work with smallholder farmers?
● Were you able to reach more women farmers?
● What was the impact on your business? I.e what was the impact on revenue, expenses, profits, etc.?

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What were your learnings?

● What did you learn from the outcomes?
● What are the areas of improvement?
● What do you need to discard?

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Case study design template
How to socialise learnings and impact stories

FRAMEWORK TO DEVELOP YOUR CASE STUDY

Below framework provides a four-step process for organizations to develop their own case
studies around the impact created by their gender transformative approaches.

DETAIL YOUR NEXT STEPS

What will be your short term next steps?

● What do you plan to do in the short-term to reach and meet the needs of more women farmers?
● Are there any quick win-opportunities you’ve identified?

Use the space below to jot down ideas

What will be your medium term next steps?

● What do you plan to do in the mid-term to reach more women smallholder farmers?

Use the space below to jot down ideas

What will be your long term next steps?

● What do you plan to do in the long-term to increase your gender impact?
● Are there any strategies in the pipeline?

Use the space below to jot down ideas

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Case study design template
How to socialise learnings and impact stories

RELEVANT GLOSSARY
As you work through this tool, you may have come across terms that are unfamiliar or
confusing. Below is a list of some terms, knowing which would aid in better understanding of
the tool. If there still are terms that you do not understand, it is recommended to refer to the
Gender Glossary and other linked sources or consult with your Gender Advisor (if your
organization has one).

Gender analysis refers to the critical examination of the differences between men and
women, boys and girls, in their access to and control of resources, their roles and
responsibilities, and the constraints they face in a given situation or context relative to
each other. For instance, an assessment of the differences in access to and control of
digital agricultural solutions between women and men smallholder farmers.
Gender bias refers to the conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit prejudiced
actions or thoughts that could lead to unfair treatment of people based on their
perceived gender. For instance, male farm laborers hired by women farm owners are
likely to be less hardworking and reliable due to the lower perceived strictness of
women.
Gender lens refers to a perspective that aims to identify and understand gendered
power differences and biases among different groups in economic, social and legal
contexts by analysing the relationship between different gendered groups, their access
to resources and opportunities, and the constraints they face relative to each other.
Gender mainstreaming / integration is a process that involves embedding of a
gender perspective into the entire spectrum of an organization’s activities including its
strategies, structures, policies, culture, systems and operations. It ensures that the
needs and interests of all genders are included in the design, implementation, and M&E
of any planned activity
Gender/ social norms collectively held standards to which people are expected to
conform at different stages of their lives based on their sex or gender identity. These
are norms that seek to represent beliefs and values of what it means to male or female
in different societal contexts. For instance gendered expectations for women to engage
in unpaid caregiving work limits their time to engage in productive agricultural activities.
Gender transformative refers to an organisation that aims to achieve gender
empowerment and equity designs its products, service lines, and/or investments to
reduce barriers in not only access to resources but also in agency and control over
resources. For instance an agri-input loan provider can incorporate strategies to reach
out to include women smallholder customers to make the final decision on loan
disbursal after approval without spousal consent.

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 ADDITIONAL
X
RESOURCES
In this section we will provide a
non-exhaustive list of all gender
transformative toolkits and resources that are
available for public use. We recommend all
users to take advantage of the breadth of
content and resources and chart their own
unique path to gender transformation.

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Other publically available gender
toolkits

This toolkit contains content which are most relevant to work in the digital agriculture sector.
There are however several gender toolkits made available by various organizations in
multiple sectors and geographies.

We recommend readers and users of this toolkit to explore other content for inspiration to
develop their own unique pathway for gender transformation.

A non exhaustive source of gender toolkits and resources are listed below:

○ ADB Toolkit on Gender Equality Results & Indicators

○ AgriProFocus Gender in Value Chains
○ CARE Gender Transformative Approaches
○ CGIAR Gender Platform
○ FAO Agri-Gender Statistics Toolkit
○ Gates Gender Equality Toolbox
○ ICRW Gender Smart Investing Resource Hub
○ IDEO HCD Toolkit
○ IDH Gender Toolkit
○ INGENAES Technology & Gender Assessment Toolkit
○ OCHA Gender Toolkit
○ UNDP Gender Mainstreaming Toolkit
○ UNFCCC Gender Toolkit
○ UNCDF Toolkit for Financial Service Providers
○ UN Habitat Gender Toolkit
○ UNICEF Gender Toolkit

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Additional resources to aid usage of
specific tools

Additionally for specific tools there are tailored resources to access:

● Sex disaggregated data collection

○ Agri-Gender Statistics Toolkit by FAO provides details relevant concepts at the
intersection of gender and agriculture
○ AgriProFocus Gender in Value Chain for data collection through various value
chains
○ AFI Guidance Note on Sex Disaggregated Data Report Templates for digital
financial service providers
○ CGIAR Standards for sex disaggregated data collection
○ FinEquity Gender Data Hub provides a collated list of financial inclusion gender
datasets
○ FAO Sex Disaggregated Data and Gender Indicators in Agriculture guide note
on good practices
○ UNESCO Guidelines on sex disaggregated water data

● Gender responsive budgeting

○ Oxfam, Gender Responsive Budgeting in Ghana
○ UN Women, Gender Responsive Budgeting: A Focus on Agriculture Sector
○ Mainstreaming Gender Responsive Budgeting

● Gender impact assessment guide

○ ATAI Research for impact evaluation research and case studies
○ Impact Management Project to understand more about how to identify, assess,
and mitigate risks to impact
○ Impact Management Project to understand commonly agreed upon norms on
how to manage and communicate impact goals
○ Gender Equality Toolbox to understand more on how to measure women and
girls’ empowerment
○ Navigating Impact Project by GIIN to understand more about metrics on
increasing gender equality in agriculture
○ Root Capital evaluation principles for evaluation that creates impact for
participants

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 CONTACT X
SHEET
This toolkit is a first version and we aim to
continue building it and iterating as per
ecosystem needs.

If you have any feedback for us on how to

improve the toolkit please reach out to us
below:

Leesa Shrader, Program Director

Mercy Corps AgriFin
lshrader@mercycorps.org

Connect:
www.mercycorpsagrifin.org
www.linkedin.com/company/mercy-corps-agrifin
@mercycorpsafa

@mercycorpsagrifin

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