News

More women than initially expected accessed, adopted and used innovative technologies to improve agricultural productivity in West Africa during the period 2013-2016, according to the completion report of the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) project of the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF).

"The gains in technology and innovation adoption have been impressive, with women approaching parity with men in these areas," the report concludes.

Compared with the 2013 baseline study when the CORAF-MDTF project began, the data show that the women's group has improved considerably by the end of the project. Women almost doubled their participation compared with the target set. Specifically, almost 44,000 women were reached compared to the initial baseline of around 22,000 women, representing a 200% increase.

Overall, the project reached around 100,000 people in the countries and communities involved, against an initial target of 82,000.

"The result of 123% above target was entirely due to the growing number of women involved in the innovation platforms."

According to CORAF's gender policy, women account for around 70% of the active agricultural population in the West and Central African regions. Addressing gender issues is an important part of all CORAF interventions. Following the adoption of the policy in 2010, considerable progress has been made in addressing the concerns of women and girls in accessing and adopting agricultural technologies and innovations in West and Central Africa.

Innovation platform: model for exchanging relevant information

Innovation platforms have been key to the growing adoption and use of technologies and innovations by women in the MDTF project.

In 2008, CORAF, through the West African Agricultural Productivity Program(WAAPP), created innovation platforms as part of a wider program to improve food systems in West Africa.

These forums provide a space for informal exchange, learning, sharing and adoption of agricultural technologies, innovations and best practices among key value chain players in a given community.

Funded by the World Bank and other donors, the program is now considered a major success in West Africa. With the imminent launch of phase 2 of the program, players are looking to extend this model with a view to agricultural transformation in the region.