Bundling Socio-technical Innovations for Women’s Empowerment and Building Climate Resilience: Insights from Kenyan Smallholder Agriculture Hom Nath Gartaula1, Cosmas Lutomia2, Deepali Chadha1 16th CAER-IFPRI Annual Conference Changsha, Hunan, China 18-20 October 2024 1International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), 2Alliance of the Bioversity International and CIAT (ABC) www.cgiar.org The Context Significant number of technical innovations to provide solutions to climate change impacts in agri-food systems (AFS). Uptake by women is low and evidence on whether they empower women is not clear. Recognition of the need for STIBs, but no systematic evidence or guidance: • Whether and how STIBs can enhance women’s empowerment and resilience • How to design and implement context-specific and climate-smart and gender-responsive STIBs Leverages existing CGIAR and non-CGIAR innovations to identify best practices for bundling innovations effectively which would help distill valuable insights and apply them to enhance our own work. To what extent socio-technical innovation bundles (STIBs) contribute to women’s empowerment among the smallholders in Kenya? How do STIBs contribute to build resilience against climate change among the smallholders in Kenya? Research Questions www.cgiar.org Why does technocentric approach not work? ‘identifying and bundling the right innovations is an intrinsically social process, one that demands cooperation that is in shorter supply than are brilliant scientific insights.’ (Barrett et al., 2022) www.cgiar.org What are STIBs? Transformative innovations necessarily involve bundles that: • Advances that improve the attributes of products and processes • Induce appropriate behaviors through influencing policies • Diffuse innovations as well as influence public policymakers through Informal behaviors • Ease uptake and change practices and attitudes of potential users • Promote social innovations – gender transformative approaches – social and behavioral change communication Socio-technical innovation bundles (STIBs) are the combination (or combinations) of social, economic, technological, policy, or environmental innovations and practices that would lead to combined and positive outcomes for farmers’ livelihoods. www.cgiar.org Bundling: what and how? Technological advances that improve the attributes of products and processes STIBsTechnical capacity building of the farmers to bridge the gap between land and lab Social innovations – gender transformative approaches – social and behavioral change communication- policy adaptation Transformation requires multiple transitions at once with innovative Bundles of : Systematic Context- specific Gender- responsive STIB Implemenation Process 1. Contextualizatio n and setting up learning lab locations 2. Co- designing STIBs 3. Establishin g MEL framewor k 4. Implementin g STIBs 5. Continuou s MEL 6. Learning, Scaling Learning Labs Literature review, situational analysis, evidence gap mapping, identifying partners, inception meeting, stakeholder consultation Team engagement, stakeholder engagement, existing/ emerging interventions, identifying, prioritizing, & co-designing tailored bundles Outcome and process indicators, baseline data collection, Theory of Change, RBM and workplan, stakeholder engagement Farmers group mobilization, local stakeholder engagement, partner monitoring, learning lab facilitation Process documentation, reporting templates, partner monitoring, course check and correction, monthly meeting Reporting, data collection (outcome, impact), scaling readiness, stakeholder engagement, next users, toolkit STIB Implemenation Process • Analysis of gendered technology access and use challenges • Mapping possible opportunities for integrating gender-responsive bundled solutions • Involving women and youth • Women leadership • Gender- responsive and context- specific innovations www.cgiar.org STIBs Implementation in Kenya (integration in mother trial) Ukama Ustawi HER+ www.cgiar.org STIBs Implementation in Kenya (integration in baby trial) Ukama Ustawi HER+ www.cgiar.org Project Locations www.cgiar.org Implemented STIBs, some examples Simple STIBs • Seed, farmer training, and group membership (9 farmers – Women (6), Men(3)) • Inorganic, nutrition education, group (3 farmers - W=2, M=1) • Intercropping, farmer training, group (3 farmers all women) • Organic fertilizer, farmer training, group (2 farmers - W=1, M=1) • Intercropping, nutrition education, group (2 farmers - W=1, M=1) Complex STIBs • Woman (1) Seed, Organic fertilizer, Rotation, Intercropping, Soil Testing, Mechanization, Farmer Training, Extension, Group, Women Collectives, FFS, Farmer-Farmer Extension, Radio • Man (1) Seed, Breed, Organic fertilizer, Inorganic fertilizer, Intercropping, Tillage, Weed Management, ICT, Farmer Training, Extension, Financial Literacy, Demonstration, Agricultural Workshop, Nutrition Education, Group, FFS, Farmer- Farmer Extension, Subsidy, Radio information Field results: data collection Location (County) Intervention Control Women (%) Embu 147 165 67 Makueni 114 136 72 Nakuru 115 129 59 Total 376 430 65 Outcome assessment conducted among the 776 households in the three counties of Kenya, using a semi-structured survey Data collected from the women and men farmers from both intervention (the STIB users) and control groups (non-users) STIBs adoption scenario • 485 unique STIBs adopted (Embu=169, Makueni=129, Nakuru=201) • Majority of the STIBs were reported women (69%) and UU farmers (71%). • About 40% of the STIBs were reported in Nakuru County. • The variations between counties suggest that localized factors influence STIB adoption, and programs should be tailored to address these specific regional characteristics. • The high number of STIBs adopted by women could indicate empowerment and a positive impact on female farmers' productivity and livelihoods. www.cgiar.org Effectiveness of STIBs – Resilience Capacities • STIBs significantly enhanced resilience capacities for all farmers, with intervention farmers showing notably higher capacities (23.6) than non-UU counterparts (15.0), and equitable effectiveness across genders. • Resilience impact varies by county, with Makueni leading in STIBs effectiveness, reflecting the potential influence of local climate conditions. STIBS Variable County Gender Farmer type Pooled Embu Makueni Nakuru Women Men Non-UU UU Without STIBs Transformative 2.43 2.67 2.11 2.47 2.31 2.36 4.28 2.41 Preventive 2.71 3.10 2.83 2.86 2.97 2.86 4.43 2.90 Anticipative 3.88 3.89 3.59 3.79 3.76 3.73 5.86 3.78 Absorptive 3.73 3.48 3.15 3.44 3.41 3.36 6.14 3.43 Adaptive 2.77 2.84 2.36 2.66 2.63 2.59 5.00 2.65 Overall 15.52 15.98 14.05 15.21 15.08 14.90 25.71 15.16 With STIBs Transformative 3.51 3.83 3.78 3.65 3.82 2.47 4.20 3.70 Preventive 3.93 4.35 3.90 4.01 4.06 2.90 4.48 4.02 Anticipative 4.73 4.99 4.87 4.89 4.76 3.48 5.41 4.85 Absorptive 4.65 4.71 4.68 4.71 4.62 3.58 5.13 4.68 Adaptive 3.83 4.26 3.57 3.91 3.67 2.55 4.36 3.84 Overall 20.65 22.14 20.80 21.17 20.93 14.97 23.58 21.09 www.cgiar.org Effectiveness of STIBs – Empowerment Except for score of non-users, farmers who have adopted STIBs demonstrate higher empowerment scores than those who have not, indicating a positive association between STIB adoption and increased empowerment across the board. Variable Disaggregation STIBs non-users STIBs users County Embu 0.739 (n=58) 0.789 (n=163) Makueni 0.834 (n=98) 0.840 (n=123) Nakuru 0.726 (n=79) 0.759 (n=200) Gender Women 0.744 (n=141) 0.766 (n=333) Men 0.819 (n=94) 0.840 (n=153) Farmer Type UU 0.833 (n=6) 0.793 (n=338) Non-UU 0.773 (n=229) 0.781 (n=148) Overall 0.774 (n=235) 0.790 (n=486) www.cgiar.org Empowerment through STIBs – Gender Comparison • Findings indicate a consistent pattern where men have higher empowerment scores than women in the context of STIB adoption, with the most considerable disparities in Nakuru and among UU farmers. • The observed disparities may stem from complex factors, involving socio-cultural influences, access to resources, decision-making power and other underlying inequalities that were not directly addressed at the beginning of the UU interventions. Variable Disaggregation Women Men Difference County Embu 0.780 (n=111) 0.801 (n=52) -0.026 Makueni 0.833 (n=101) 0.872 (n=22) -0.039 Nakuru 0.698 (n=121) 0.854 (n=79) -0.156*** Overall 0.766 (n = 333) 0.840 (n=153) -0.073*** Non-UU farmers 0.748 (n=82) 0.823 (n=66) -0.074** UU farmers 0.772 (n=251) 0.854 (n=87) 0.082 www.cgiar.org 1. Women leaders gain crucial skills and confidence to drive change and advocate for women’s rights Increased knowledge, improved self- esteem Adoption of CSA technologies Enhanced decision making Sense of Sisterhood Enhanced women’s agency 2. Increased involvement in decisions related to land and agriculture within the home 3. Deeper integration of technologies into socio-cultural and economic fabrics fostered significant measures for women's social upliftment 4. Promotion of climate smart agricultural practices and modern technologies helped in building resilience and reducing drudgery 5. Nurturing of a supportive community that drives collective empowerment Land rights awareness 6. Enhanced understanding of rights and reinforcing women's ownership and identity as farmers Conclusion Gaps Suggestions Limited involvement of men Negligible recognition of women’s unpaid care work Fragmented/ad-hoc bundling of various interventions Adopting an intersectional approach in designing climate-smart technologies Making interventions gender transformative Systematically bundling various kinds of interventions in a planned manner Acknowledgement • CGIAR Gender Equality Initiative, including donors • International Rice Research Institute • Alliance Biodiversity International and CIAT • CGIAR Gender Impact Platform • CAER-IFPRI 16th Annual Conference Organizers Thank you! Slide 0: Bundling Socio-technical Innovations for Women’s Empowerment and Building Climate Resilience: Insights from Kenyan Smallholder Agriculture Slide 1: The Context Slide 2 Slide 3: Why does technocentric approach not work? Slide 4: What are STIBs? Slide 5: Bundling: what and how? Slide 6: STIB Implemenation Process Slide 7: STIB Implemenation Process Slide 8: STIBs Implementation in Kenya (integration in mother trial) Slide 9: STIBs Implementation in Kenya (integration in baby trial) Slide 10: Project Locations Slide 11: Implemented STIBs, some examples Slide 12: Field results: data collection Slide 13: STIBs adoption scenario Slide 14: Effectiveness of STIBs – Resilience Capacities Slide 15: Effectiveness of STIBs – Empowerment Slide 16: Empowerment through STIBs – Gender Comparison Slide 17 Slide 18 Slide 19: Acknowledgement Slide 20