Reimagining solutions to gender inequality

Perspectives in Global Development Seminar Series: Fall 2021

In the last decade, a lot of attention has been on how to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women. All too often, the development discourse has tended to simplify the concept of empowerment, and not moved in pace with the theoretical developments of the concept. As a result, we have often heard of statements  such as empowering women through training, or through other sectoral objectives such as market inclusion. The UN Food systems has provided a great opportunity to re-imagine gender equality from a much more holistic perspective around four domains (i) Expanding Women’s Agency (ii) Increasing access and rights to resources (iii) Addressing institutional and legislative barriers, and (iv) Shifting harmful social and gender norms. This four domain framework allows for addressing both the symptoms and the underlying causes of gender inequalities. Using recent work, I will demonstrate the value and process for applying such a framework in real research and development contexts.

About the speaker

Dr. Jemimah Njuki has more than 20 years of experience in the agriculture sector in Africa and Asia, working on gender equality and the empowerment of women. Her extensive resume includes positions with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), CARE USA, and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). She has served as Coordinator of the Growth and Economic Opportunities Program (2020) and Senior Program Specialist in the Agriculture and Food Security Program at IDRC (2013–2019); Program Leader for the Women in Agriculture Program at CARE USA (2012–2013); and Program Leader for the Poverty, Gender and Impact Program (2009-2012) and Senior Scientist at ILRI (2003–2009). She has worked widely in Africa, including in Malawi (2004–2007), Zimbabwe (2007–2009), and Tanzania (2012–2013), and has conducted field research in many other countries.

Dr. Njuki has published extensively in gender and agriculture journals on topics such as gender and technology, impacts of women’s time in agriculture on caregiving practices and nutrition, indicators for women’s empowerment, trade-offs between market development and women’s income control, approaches for linking smallholder women farmers to markets, and gender transformative food systems. Her current research focuses on how to make food systems more equitable and gender transformative.

Registration information

The speaker will present via Zoom. Guests are welcomed to join the session in-person in Emerson 135 or via Zoom. To attend via Zoom, use the registration link below.

About the seminar series

The Perspectives in Global Development seminars are held Wednesdays from 12:25 – 1:15 p.m. eastern time during the semester. The series will be presented in a hybrid format with some speakers on campus and others appearing via Zoom. Students, faculty and the general public are welcome to attend. The series is co-sponsored by the Department of Global Development, the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and the School of Integrative Plant Science as part of courses IARD 6960, NTRES 6960, PLSCS 6960 and AEM 6960.