Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/140560

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Responsible scaling for impact: inclusion and power in food, land and water systems
(Brief, 2025-12-30) McGuire, E.; Mutiso, A.; Valencia, E.; Ewell, H.; Enokenwa Baa, Ojongetakah; Alame, D. S.; Paez-Valencia, A. M.; Newton, J.; Rietveld, A.; Nortje, Karen; Keller-Bischoff, L.; Yami, M.
Achieving sustainable and equitable impact at scale remains one of the most persistent challenges in agricultural research for development (AR4D). Despite a rich pipeline of technological, social, and institutional innovations, benefits often fail to reach women, youth, and marginalized producers who face entrenched structural barriers. This brief synthesizes emerging insights from the CGIAR Scaling for Impact (S4I) Program under its Enabling Environment Lab (AoW‑3) in collaboration with Multifunctional Landscapes Program, the Gender and Inclusion Accelerator Program, and Responsible Innovation. Scaling scientists, gender researchers, and innovation practitioners were convened to examine how responsible scaling can transform food, land, and water systems. Responsible scaling recognizes that scaling is neither automatic nor neutral—it is shaped by power relations, institutional incentives, market structures, and social norms. The workshop emphasized that innovation processes must be anticipatory, inclusive, reflexive, and responsive to context-specific risks and opportunities. Key recommendations include harmonizing existing CGIAR frameworks such as IPSR, GenderUp, Scaling Scan, and empowerment metrics to embed inclusion and social risk assessment into scaling readiness; developing a Responsible Scaling Index to track empowerment and equity outcomes; and establishing communities of practice that bridge scaling and GESI expertise across institutions. Participants emphasized that responsible scaling begins at project design, requiring co-created socio-technical bundles and participatory approaches that align technological solutions with community priorities. Transformative scaling demands rethinking metrics of success to move beyond counts of adoption toward indicators of empowerment, legitimacy, and systemic change. By integrating responsible scaling principles across institutional, operational, and cultural dimensions, CGIAR and its partners can ensure that innovations not only spread widely but also contribute to just, resilient, and socially inclusive food system transformation. This brief reflects on a practical roadmap for scaling “better” rather than simply “more,” aligning scientific excellence with equity and long‑term impact.
Towards developing an Enabling Environment Digital Toolbox: scaling innovations using fit-for-purpose methods
(Report, 2025-12-30) Enokenwa Baa, Ojongetakah; Angwech, Alice; Brosler, Taisa Marotta; Jacobs-Mata, Inga
Creating an enabling environment is fundamental to scaling inclusive innovations within agri-food systems. Within the CGIAR Scaling for Impact Program, the Enabling Environment Lab is developing the Enabling Environment Digital Toolbox, a modular, AI-assisted platform designed to strengthen the systemic conditions needed for widespread adoption and scaling of agricultural and climate innovations. The Toolbox curates interoperable, field-tested digital and analytical tools aligned with Enabling Environment Lab’s eight pillars, and provides user-friendly guidance, training pathways, and decision-support features for governments, researchers, policymakers, agribusinesses, and local stakeholders. Over the last year (2025), the program has completed its foundational design phase and transitioned into active development. Phase 1 achievements include finalizing the product Concept Note, mapping and validating over one hundred tools across the eight pillars, defining user personas, and conducting extensive stakeholder engagements with policymakers, researchers, and agribusinesses. A multi-institutional design sprint generated user journeys, early wireframes, prototype screens, and a shared vision for platform architecture. These milestones positioned the team to enter Phase 2, focused on building and testing the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), enhancing metadata quality, and integrating an AI-driven discovery engine. Preparations for pilot activities are underway in Kenya, Zambia, Ethiopia, and Colombia. The goal is to ensure that the toolbox supports enabling environment work and acts as a shared strategic layer — accelerating reform, enabling coordination, and helping climate-smart innovation scale where it’s needed most.
Pathways to Gender Equality and Empowerment, Sustainable Animal and Aquatic Foods: Setting the Science Agenda (2025–2030)
(Brief, 2025) Mapedza, Everisto D.; Adam, Rahma; Galiè, Alessandra; Bonis-Profumo, Gianna; Terfa, Zelalem; Njiru, Nelly; Mosbah, Menna; Njogu, Lucy
This Sustainable Animal and Aquatic Foods (SAAF) brief maps out gender entry points for the new Science Program which will run from 2025 to 2030. The brief provides six pathways to enhance gender equality and women’s empowerment in CGIAR Sustainable Animal and Aquatic Foods (SAAF) Science Program. This brief offers Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) solutions which range from accommodative to transformative through norm changes. While accommodative gender solutions try to provide solutions within existing norms and cultures, in the long term, it is the transformative solutions which change societies for more equitable and inclusive gender outcomes. The brief goes beyond business as usual or gender mainstreaming approaches by setting an ambitious gender research agenda for the SAAF and related science programs. The SAAF science program provides opportunities for women and youth from low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) to participate, engage and benefit from animal and aquatic food systems (AAFS). Gender and restrictive social norms in AAFS can lead to inequalities. This limits the potential of AAFS to provide avenues for women’s economic and social empowerment and equitable job creation. Addressing barriers towards gender inequality, and youth and women’s empowerment through gender transformative approaches is vital if AAFS are to contribute effectively to improving food security, nutrition and livelihoods, while reducing poverty.
Is global human well-being peaking?
(Journal Article, 2025-12-20) Grafton, R. Q.; Chu, L.; Kompas, T.; Fanaian, Safa
We undertook multiple individual country time trend analyses using post 1990 data and estimated that real GDP per capita and life expectancy at birth, together, are projected to have peaked before 2050 for about two-thirds of the world’s population and at levels far below their current values in upper high-income countries. We found there are ‘flourishing’ countries where human well-being is already high and will likely increase, but a much larger group of ‘languishing’ countries where human well-being has peaked, or will likely peak, before 2050. We estimated a positive time-series association between real per capita income and broader composite (e.g. Human Development Index) well-being indicators, but this association diminishes in the level of real per capita income. A mitigation response to peaking average global human well-being is cross-country monetary transfers from higher- to lower-income countries. Thus, we calculated two possible global transfers: one equal to 1.3 trillion/year USD in total and an alternative based on the projected climate change damage to low to middle-income countries. Each global transfer would impose only a relatively small proportional cost on the national income of contributing countries but could provide very large average human well-being benefits to the poor and most vulnerable in low-income countries.
Beyond a Decade of Water Justice: Review, Directions, and Pathways to Achieve “Water for All”
(Journal Article, 2025-12-15) Fanaian, Safa; Manero, A.; Nguyen, N.; Grafton, R. Q.
Water justice is increasingly recognized as central to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), which seeks universal access to safe water and sanitation. Yet persistent injustices in water access, allocation, governance, and participation continue to undermine this goal. Despite growing global attention to and applications of “water justice,” a critical disconnect between understanding and practice highlights the need for a formal review and synthesis of just, equitable, and sustainable water management and governance. In response, we provide a comprehensive review of water justice scholarship published between 2012 and 2023. We systematically review and synthesize insights from 470 peer-reviewed studies to examine the evolution of water justice concepts, map their alignment with SDG sub-goals over time, and inventory proposed solutions. Our findings reveal a shift in the literature from an emphasis on distribution and procedural justice to a more recent focus on decolonial, socio-ecological, and pluralistic approaches to water justice. Our review highlights persistent barriers to water justice, including entrenched power asymmetries, institutional capture, and policy misalignment, while also identifying emerging responses focused on hybrid governance models, co-production processes, and justice-oriented social movements. We conclude that further advances in water justice research and practices require greater consideration of structural inequalities, reappraisal of water governance approaches, comparisons of alternative evidence-based, and context-specific actions, and an analysis of transformative responses to injustices.
Integrating prediction of precipitation and hydrology for early actions: the InPRHA project within the World Weather Research Programme
(Journal Article, 2025-07) Cattoën, C.; Carr, R. H.; Bennett, J.; Dougherty, E.; Fortin, V.; Imhoff, R.; Lee, G.; Luo, Y.; Mapedza, Everisto D.; Polcher, J.; Prabhakaran, T.; Taylor, A.; Leon, J. V.; Phillips, S.; Kleist, D.; Ramos, M.-H.; Caltabiano, N.; Davis, C.; De Coning, E.
Despite advancements in science and technology, flood prediction and preparedness remain challenging due to uncertainties in forecasting atmospheric and hydrologic processes, limited real-time data, and communication barriers. The Integrating Prediction of Precipitation and Hydrology for Early Actions (InPRHA) project, a 5-yr initiative under the WMO’s World Weather Research Programme, is the first to bring together meteorology, hydrology, and social sciences within a steering committee to address these challenges. Building on knowledge from the High Impact Weather (HiWeather) project, InPRHA focuses on multihazard flood forecasting across the entire warning value chain from minutes to days, in a rapidly changing world. A key emphasis is understanding flood predictability and how uncertainties cascade through forecasting systems and are perceived, communicated, and acted upon by diverse stakeholders. This includes bridging research and operations, examining socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental challenges that influence risk perception and response. We propose key scientific questions across seven themes that address critical gaps in integrating predictions along the flood warning value chain. Addressing these gaps requires collaboration across disciplines and agencies. The project is structured into four work packages: DEFINE (identifying challenges), CONSTRUCT (gathering case studies), EXPERIMENT (scientific evaluations), and ENGAGE (community collaboration). Research will span rural, urban, and underdeveloped regions as well as countries with established warning systems, ensuring broad applicability. We invite scientists and practitioners from meteorology, hydrology, hydraulics, impacts, communication, human behavior, and economics to collaborate. By integrating disciplines and fostering transdisciplinary research, InPRHA aims to advance the science and practice of flood forecasting and early warnings to better protect vulnerable communities at risk.
Rethinking water user associations to enhance women’s participation
(Blog Post, 2025-11-10) Fanaian, Safa; Bhattacharjee, Suchiradipta; Waqar, Kanwal; KC, Sumitra
Studies from the International Water Management Institute on Water User Associations (WUAs) across South Asia show that while barriers for women persist, change is possible and scalable. This article explores why women’s participation matters, the challenges they face, and how processes can be redesigned and scaled to make WUAs truly inclusive and effective.
Rethinking water user associations to enhance women’s participation
(Opinion Piece, 2025-11-10) Fanaian, Safa; Bhattacharjee, Suchiradipta; Waqar, Kanwal; KC, Sumitra
Irrigation management in Nepal: blending traditional and modern institutions
(Blog Post, 2025-10-29) Fanaian, Safa; KC, Sumitra; Kaini, S.
Nepal examines strategies to transform its agrifood system
(Blog Post, 2025-10-08) Adhikari, Alisha; Nepal, Santosh; Khadka, Manohara
Mitigating the Madhes water crisis: action to protect province’s groundwater and solve flooding
(News Item, 2025-10-27) KC, Sumitra; Khadka, Manohara
Groundwater management is the shared responsibility of federal, provincial and local governments, but there is a lack of integrated planning, budgeting, data sharing, and collective action for groundwater extraction and recharge. Sustainable groundwater use in the Madhesh Province in Nepal requires inclusive and equitable practices that combine water science-informed interventions with a cross-disciplinary approach.
Bridging gaps in groundwater: a woman leader led multistakeholder platform experience from Nepal
(Presentation, 2025-10-07) KC, Sumitra; Khadka, Manohara
The presentation titled "Bridging Gaps in Groundwater: A Woman Leader-Led Multistakeholder Platform in Barahathawa Municipality, Nepal" by Ms. Sumitra KC and Dr. Manohara Khadka highlights the challenges and solutions related to groundwater governance in Barahatthawa Municipality, Nepal. Groundwater is vital for agri-food system transformation, but its governance is complex due to the three-tiered federal structure in Nepal. There is a gap in evidence and knowledge on sustainable extraction thresholds and equitable access. We presented our action research on strengthening groundwater governance using multi-stakeholder platform as a solution for coordinated planning for managing and using groundwater sustainably and equitably. The presentation emphasizes the need for integrated planning and collaboration among natural resources stakeholders. The Multistakeholder Platform (MSP), co-designed with Barahatthawa Municipality and led by a woman leader, aims to strengthen collaboration and cooperation between actors in water, agriculture, energy, and environment sectors 1. The MSP guides decision-making and ensures coherence in policies and programs for sustainable and equitable management of natural resources. The presentation also highlights the importance of inclusive and collaborative approaches to groundwater governance to ensure sustainable and equitable access to this vital resource. Women, smallholders, marginal and tenant farmers are disproportionately impacted in groundwater access. Overall, the MSP aims to bridge groundwater governance gaps by bringing diverse stakeholders together for integrated planning and inclusive decision-making.
Nexus governance in practice: a stakeholder-driven framework for groundwater sustainability in Barahathawa Municipality, Madhesh Province
(Journal Article, 2025-12) KC, S.; KC, Sumitra; Pokhrel, A.; Paudel, S.; Mishra, Anuj; Buchy, Marlene; Khadka, Manohara; Aryal, Anil
Groundwater, a critical resource in the water-food-energy-ecosystem (WEFE) nexus, underpins food security and livelihoods globally and regionally. This study applies a contextualized framework – co-developed with local stakeholders – to assess groundwater governance in Barahathawa Municipality, Madhesh Province of Nepal, where 85% of irrigation and domestic needs rely on this resource. The framework evaluates 32 indicators across technical, legal and institutional, cross-sector policy, and operational dimensions, synthesizing findings into a Groundwater Governance Index (GGI). Results reveal a transitional governance system (GGI: 1.03, “early acceptable” stage) with fragmented technical capacity (midway between non-existent and basic) due to unmonitored extraction, unmapped recharge zones, and sparse hydrogeological data. Legal and institutional gaps such as absence of permitting systems, unenforced pollution controls, and inequitable access highlight systemic risks to sustainability. Cross-sector coordination (“acceptable” state) and operational transparency (initial “acceptable” state) reflect growing synergies between agriculture, urban planning, and community actors, yet marginalized groups remain underrepresented. Lens-based analysis underscores lagging “state” governance relative to the “community” and “market” lens, necessitating prioritized investments in participatory hydrogeological mapping, localized regulations, and inclusive decision-making. The framework guides the management of competing needs by offering practical solutions such as better irrigation practices, gender-sensitive budgeting, and partnerships with local drillers. By bridging technical, legal, and social gaps, this approach offers a replicable model for agrarian-urbanizing regions in the western Terai belt of the country, emphasizing adaptive governance, stakeholder synergy, and data-driven policies to balance socio-economic development with groundwater resilience in the face of climate and demographic pressures.
Bridging gaps in groundwater: a woman leader led multistakeholder platform experience from Nepal
(Poster, 2025-10-07) KC, Sumitra; Khadka, Manohara
The presentation titled "Bridging Gaps in Groundwater: A Woman Leader-Led Multistakeholder Platform in Barahathawa Municipality, Nepal" by Ms. Sumitra KC and Dr. Manohara Khadka highlights the challenges and solutions related to groundwater governance in Barahatthawa Municipality, Nepal. Groundwater is vital for agri-food system transformation, but its governance is complex due to the three-tiered federal structure in Nepal. There is a gap in evidence and knowledge on sustainable extraction thresholds and equitable access. We presented our action research on strengthening groundwater governance using multi-stakeholder platform as a solution for coordinated planning for managing and using groundwater sustainably and equitably. The presentation emphasizes the need for integrated planning and collaboration among natural resources stakeholders. The Multistakeholder Platform (MSP), co-designed with Barahatthawa Municipality and led by a woman leader, aims to strengthen collaboration and cooperation between actors in water, agriculture, energy, and environment sectors 1. The MSP guides decision-making and ensures coherence in policies and programs for sustainable and equitable management of natural resources. The presentation also highlights the importance of inclusive and collaborative approaches to groundwater governance to ensure sustainable and equitable access to this vital resource. Women, smallholders, marginal and tenant farmers are disproportionately impacted in groundwater access. Overall, the MSP aims to bridge groundwater governance gaps by bringing diverse stakeholders together for integrated planning and inclusive decision-making.
Water-energy-food-ecosystem nexus approach presents a solution for transboundary resources management in Nepal
(Blog Post, 2025-06-13) Koirala, Sanju; Niroula, Aayush; Mishra, Anuj; Subedi, R.; Pradhan, Melissa
Stakeholders in the Rangun watershed in Nepal’s Mahakali-Karnali River Basin illustrate how a holistic approach across the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus can offer scalability for broader cross-border challenges.
Water solutions for inclusive growth: IWMI’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Portfolio
(Brochure, 2025-09-08) International Water Management Institute
This document provides a comprehensive overview of the International Water Management Institute's (IWMI) Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) portfolio. It underscores IWMI's dedication to incorporating gender equality and social inclusion into its research and development efforts, with a focus on scalable solutions that foster economic empowerment and leadership opportunities for underrepresented groups. The brochure details significant GESI research and projects aligned with IWMI's three strategic focus areas: mitigating water risks, addressing global inequalities, and promoting sustainable water management. Additionally, it outlines future research directions for the IWMI GESI portfolio, including the use of intersectional data for smarter decision-making, empowering youth as leaders in the water sector, responsibly scaling water innovations, integrating indigenous knowledge for water security, and shaping policy pathways for gender-equitable water governance. The document highlights the importance of partnerships and funding from leading global donors to drive long-term, systemic change in water management and achieve a water-secure world for all.
Measuring how water‐related policies of the Global South consider gender: insights from trialling a new policy gender index in Nepal
(Journal Article, 2025-09) Cuddy, S. M.; Koirala, Sanju; Wahid, S.; Penton, D. J.
This paper supports policymakers to consider how well their water‐related policies respond to gender roles, norms and relations. By braiding the latest philosophies on gender mainstreaming with Integrated Water Resources Management and Feminist Policy Analysis principles, we describe a Multi‐Dimensional Index of Gender in Water Policy (MDI‐GWP) to measure how gender is captured in water‐related policy. The index enables the motivated policy actor to produce well‐crafted and feasible recommendations to reform policies. When we trialled MDI‐GWP on 16 of Nepalʼs federal water‐related policies and acts, the multi‐dimensional index tracked gender policy developments over the past 30 years, identified areas where policymakers could further consider gender, and revealed differences in gender application between sectors. We included water resources management (WRM), agriculture, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sectors. In Nepalʼs case, agriculture and WASH policies are on an improving trajectory for gender equity, while WRM policy has rebounded to the gender blind. We expect that MDI‐GWP is simple enough to apply in other countries, yet meaningful enough to identify opportunities to improve gender in policies and achieve better outcomes.
Gender in water and sanitation provision and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in rural Ghana
(Working Paper, 2025-08-13) Mapedza, Everisto D.; Adewale, D.; Seyram, R.; Asare, G.; Cofie, Olufunke O.; Nikiema, J.; Gebrezgabher, Solomie A.; Njenga, M.; Mendum, R.
The study "Gender in Water and Sanitation Provision and Responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic in Rural Ghana" delivers a compelling analysis of the critical intersection between gender, water access, sanitation, and the far-reaching impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Ga South District of Greater Accra, Ghana. It underscores the urgent need to address gender disparities, revealing how the pandemic exacerbated existing inequalities in water and sanitation services. Through a robust collection of data from questionnaires, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews, the research illuminates the distinct experiences of women and men within the context of water access and hygiene. The findings highlight the pandemic's differential effects, including a surge in domestic violence and an alarming rise in teenage pregnancies, underscoring the vulnerability of certain demographic groups. This study calls for immediate and targeted interventions to transform water and sanitation services, emphasizing gender-sensitive strategies that can effectively address the unique challenges faced by diverse communities. By aligning with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators on water stress and availability, this working paper provides actionable insights for policymakers, advocating for comprehensive approaches that prioritize equity and resilience in rural settings. This research serves as a vital catalyst for change and a deeper understanding of the interplay between gender and water management in crisis contexts such as that induced by Covid-19.
Women in Nepalese farming community take lead to tackle disaster-induced challenges
(Blog Post, 2025-03-10) Adhikari, Aashika; Khadka, Manohara; Shrestha, Shisher
Women are hit hardest when climate strikes in Pakistan
(Blog Post, 2025-07-28) Begum, Khadija

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