Empowerment by design: Gender-intentional rice breeding through Target Product Profiling

The PlantDirect project, in collaboration with Market Intelligence Work Package (WP2) 2, facilitated a workshop on Gender-intentional Target Product Profile (TPP) design in Varanasi, India, with stakeholders from the Indo-Gangetic Plains. They aimed to identify and develop suitable rice varieties tailored to stakeholders' needs in the DSR value chain, which is crucial for scaling up regional rice production.

The workshop brought together a diverse group of stakeholders from the Northwestern and Eastern regions, where dry-DSR is being rolled out to refine the TPPs. The group discussed the current market segmentation for both regions, focusing on genetic, agronomic, and social relevance. Current TPPs were reviewed to ensure gender intentionality through consultation with stakeholders such as UN Women and OLAM's gender focal points.

Gender intentionality is an important aspect of Target Product Profile (TPP) design. A TPP summarizes the "desired" features of an identified group of stakeholders. A gender intentional TPP ensures women are included and that future products benefit both male and female farmers, consumers, and other stakeholders. In India, Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) has gained momentum, offering a sustainable and efficient rice production strategy for millions of smallholder farmers. While adoption is increasing, particularly in states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh, it still needs to be higher than traditional transplanting methods.

"Gender-intentional breeding is more likely to enhance greater impact as it caters to the needs, preferences, and demands of different genders and other marginalized groups.", said IRRI Senior Scientist Melanie Connor. "Men and women farmers, processors, and consumers can have different trait preferences, which may depend on their gender norms, roles and responsibilities, subjective ecosystem, and production purpose- whether for commercialization or home consumption.", she continued.

Adoption rates of new varieties can be increased through gender-intentional product design. If breeders have the necessary information on the demands and preferences of different genders and other marginalized groups, they can develop varieties that meet and address expressed preferences, needs, priorities, opportunities, and constraints.

The workshop started with an introduction to gender intentionality in rice breeding to provide all participants with a common understanding of what this term means and how it can be achieved. This interactive session with the various stakeholders offered a unique opportunity to listen to different opinions and field experiences.

Dr B.R. Kamboj, Vice Chancellor of Haryana Agriculture University, expressed that such workshops, where different stakeholders' opinions are discussed, are crucial in developing the roadmap for scaling DSR technology. "Gender-intentionality ensures that interventions like DSR are being adopted by women farmers who usually face cultural technological barriers."

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Participants were split into two groups based on the geographic area where DSR is promoted, and they were asked to use the G+ Tool, the overall Gender and Breeding Initiative's manual, which provides steps that ensure gender-intentionality in breeding. The tool has two components: (i) the customer profile tool that utilizes socio-demographic and geographical variables and (ii) the G+ product profile query tool that assesses whether traits have positive, negative, or no implications for gender equity.

The scorecard developed for the product profile query was used to evaluate plant traits' effects on different genders and to stimulate discussion among stakeholders. For instance, stakeholders discussed the current status of DSR in their region. These activities could displace current (female) labor due to DSR adoption, varietal preferences, unequal access to input use (e.g. herbicides, availability of seed drills that promote DSR), and whether women value the technology positively.

Stakeholders acknowledged potential gender differences depending on whether or not women are involved in a particular production stage. It is primarily influenced by socio-cultural norms. However, they all agreed that all traits provide neutral to positive benefits to all genders and that there is no harm to any gender when implementing DSR. However, both women groups, UN Women and OLAM, recommended further investigation with female farmers and consumers to ensure the validity of the outcomes.

To conclude, there is a need for stakeholders to discuss their own gender and geographical groups to ensure that all voices can be expressed. The participants agreed to implement inclusive activities while addressing Direct Seeded Rice activities on the field.

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