The GREAT vision is based on a premise: That agricultural research projects are often designed with little consideration of how the research outputs, technologies and interventions will impact both men and women. Researchers are increasingly expected to design projects that deliver equitable outcomes, yet there is only limited or inappropriate gender training out there for agricultural researchers. Considering gender in research requires thinking differently, and not just applying tools. GREAT will not only teach participants how to use tools, but also how to change the way they look at their research, to be able to identify relevant gender research questions, or potential points of negative or positive impact for women and men, and how to address these.
We have a GREAT vision: To equip researchers to create more inclusive and effective agricultural systems by addressing the priorities of both women and men in sub-Saharan Africa.
What we strive for is changing researchers and research systems. If GREAT can change the agricultural research paradigm so that As co-leaders of the Gender Responsive Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation (GREAT) project, we warmly welcome you to the GREAT Theme 1 course. Theme 1 focuses on Root, Tuber and Banana (RTB) Breeding, taking place over two separate sessions, on 12- 21 September 2016, and 13-17 February 2017, in Kampala, Uganda. Hale Ann Tufan Margaret Mangheni gender is the lens through which all projects are conceptualized and implemented, research outputs will be more appropriate to the needs of both women and men farmers, and more widely adopted. Women will gain greater visibility and voice in agricultural research design and implementation. All of this would culminate in increased benefits from agricultural research for men, women and children together. The challenge in developing a truly applied gender training course for agricultural researchers bound GREAT proponents together, building a community of passionate supporters. We are indebted to the many visionary voices that have contributed intellectual input into the development of GREAT, and thank everyone who has generously devoted time, thoughts and resources to the GREAT vision. Rhetoric around gender responsive research is not new, but action and evidence is what is lacking. With GREAT intervention, we hope that the usual process of paying lip-service to gender without linking it to concrete commitments of time, budgets and personnel will change. Change is our greatest challenge. We hope you will join us as agents of change to implement this new vision of agricultural research to intelligently design research projects that maximize impact for all. Thank you for joining the GREAT vision!
About the authors
Hale Ann Tufan is associate professor in Cornell University’s School of Integrative Plant Science and co-principal investigator for GREAT.
Margaret Najjingo Mangheni is associate professor of agricultural extension and innovation studies at Makerere University and co-principal investigator for GREAT.
For press inquiries or for more information, email us at great@cornell.edu.
