Project Leader: Anriette Esterhuysen

 

Institution: Association for Progressive Communications

 

Region: Asia | Asia and the Pacific | Sub-Saharan Africa | Africa | Latin America and the Caribbean | Caribbean

 

Start Date: 2008/01

 

 

 

Phases I and II of this small grants project were funded under projects 101698 and 102900, respectively. Genardis III will provide 15 awardees - mainly, rural women from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries - with capacity building and funding to pursue small research projects aimed at furthering knowledge on gender issues in the application of information and communications technology (ICT) in agriculture and rural development. Successful applicants will participate in a proposal development workshop and a gender evaluation methodology training course before commencing their fieldwork, and a research production workshop once the fieldwork is finished. The research reports and findings will be disseminated by means of various electronic and conventional media. The project is expected to foster networking between Genardis researchers and promote gender-sensitive application of ICTs in agriculture and rural development.

 

 

In recognition of the dilemma between a potentially powerful set of tools - modern ICTs - and their failure to reach the majority of the poor in ACP countries, rural women - CTA (Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ) in 2002 organised the first ever expert consultation on “Gender and Agriculture in the Information Society”. Out of this consultation grew the awareness that little was known about the gender issues and implications of ICT-enabled initiatives in agriculture and rural development in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP countries).

 

Together with its partner institutions, the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), CTA announced a small grants fund known as GenARDIS (Gender for Agricultural and Rural Development in the Information Society).  In 2003, GenARDIS small grants were awarded for the first time to support innovative activities that contribute to the understanding of gender issues in ICTs and to the gender-sensitive application of ICTs in ACP agricultural and rural development.

 

Following the overwhelming response to the GenARDIS initiative (360 proposals submitted in less than 2 months), the implementation of 9 winning projects over the course of 2003 and 2004, and the positive feedback received during the review workshop in October 2004, CTA, IDRC and IICD decided to prolong and expand it in a more programmatic fashion.  A new partner, HIVOS (Humanistisch Instituut voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking) joined the initiative in 2004.

Project Objectives

-To support innovative activities that contribute to the understanding of gender issues in ICTs, and to the gender-sensitive application of ICTs in agricultural and rural development of ACP countries.

-To enhance and increase the knowledge base of gender issues in ICTs for agricultural and rural development in ACP countries.

-To enhance awareness of gender-related problems within development of ICT-enabled livelihoods initiatives.

-To stimulate the appropriate use of ICTs to address gender-related problems within development of livelihoods initiatives.

-To build the capacity of institutions and people to understand and deal with issues related to ICTs and gender.

-To catalyze knowledge-sharing between practitioners, peers and expert resources

-To promote and disseminate new knowledge on issues of gender issues in ICTs and rural and agricultural settings with the intent to influence policies.

 

 

The IDRC recently funded an external evaluation (Project #103738) for the initial two phases (2002-04 and 2004-06) of the Genardis Program in order to inform the partners in designing and implementing the third phase of the program. Accordingly, the evaluation assesed the implementation process of the Genardis concept and approach; assessed the outcomes of the initial two phases; assessed  the impact of Genardis activities on people, their organisations and activities in terms of capacitites, resource sharing, services provided, program delivery, and policies; and identified lessons learned that would help in the evolution towards phase three.