Innovative indigenous and gender-balanced knowledge for agriculture
Women are often responsible for food processing and storage, collecting of water and firewood and for generating incomes for subsistence, managing available resources by using indigenous knowledge to secure food supplies for their households.
Advantages / Benefits
Rural women as local level experts manage to achieve sustainable food security at household levels, with practical, efficient and economic solutions based on indigenous knowledge
Disadvantages
Lack of policies that promote the role of women as holders of traditional knowledge that can help achieve food security
Who involved
Rural women, policymakers
Information sources
Evidence of success
In Madagascar, innovative solutions such as digital microfinance and agricultural micro-insurance are being developed to support farmers. They include digital microfinance or agricultural micro-insurance based on meteorological data (https://ideas4development.org/en/madagascar-agricultural-microcredit-digital-microfinance)
Feasibility
In rural areas where women represent the majority of the rural population (especially where migration has left them as head of households) and are extensively involved in agricultural activities as are the dominant livelihood feature, the indigenous and gender-balanced knowledge is particularly important during seasonal food shortage or major stress periods such as droughts