Women’s empowerment through seed improvement and seed governance: Evidence from participatory barley breeding in pre-war Syria

Approaches to food security primarily focus on technological solutions, seeking to produce more food, preferably with fewer resources. It has been argued that access to food involves issues of resource distribution and social marginalization. Governance is seen as one of the keys to redressing the i...

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Main Authors: Galiè, Alessandra, Jiggins, Janice, Struik, Paul C., Grando, S., Ceccarelli, S.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Informa UK Limited 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/79922
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author Galiè, Alessandra
Jiggins, Janice
Struik, Paul C.
Grando, S.
Ceccarelli, S.
author_browse Ceccarelli, S.
Galiè, Alessandra
Grando, S.
Jiggins, Janice
Struik, Paul C.
author_facet Galiè, Alessandra
Jiggins, Janice
Struik, Paul C.
Grando, S.
Ceccarelli, S.
author_sort Galiè, Alessandra
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Approaches to food security primarily focus on technological solutions, seeking to produce more food, preferably with fewer resources. It has been argued that access to food involves issues of resource distribution and social marginalization. Governance is seen as one of the keys to redressing the institutional inequity that affects resource distribution. Rural women’s empowerment is seen as a means to reduce social marginalization and to hasten progress towards hunger eradication and gender equitable institutions. Building on the empirical findings of a six-year study (2006–2011) undertaken in the context of a participatory barley breeding (PBB) programme in pre-war Syria, this paper establishes the links between women’s empowerment, seed improvement through PPB and seed governance vis-à-vis household food security. The study shows how the programme enhanced the empowerment of the respondent women and how gender-blind seed governance regimes at national and international levels restricted the empowerment of these women ultimately affecting the pillars of food security. We discuss some of the challenges encountered by the study in conceptualizing and operationalizing gender analysis to enhance women’s empowerment. The article further discusses the interplay of processes to both discipline gender norms and provides transformational opportunities towards gender equity created by public spaces such as the PBB programme. The article contributes to current discussions on the effective pathways to develop smallholder agriculture, enhance gender equity and enhance food security and rural livelihoods in the dry areas of the temperate world.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace79922
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2017
publishDateRange 2017
publishDateSort 2017
publisher Informa UK Limited
publisherStr Informa UK Limited
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spelling CGSpace799222024-11-15T08:52:08Z Women’s empowerment through seed improvement and seed governance: Evidence from participatory barley breeding in pre-war Syria Galiè, Alessandra Jiggins, Janice Struik, Paul C. Grando, S. Ceccarelli, S. women food security seeds gender development food science Approaches to food security primarily focus on technological solutions, seeking to produce more food, preferably with fewer resources. It has been argued that access to food involves issues of resource distribution and social marginalization. Governance is seen as one of the keys to redressing the institutional inequity that affects resource distribution. Rural women’s empowerment is seen as a means to reduce social marginalization and to hasten progress towards hunger eradication and gender equitable institutions. Building on the empirical findings of a six-year study (2006–2011) undertaken in the context of a participatory barley breeding (PBB) programme in pre-war Syria, this paper establishes the links between women’s empowerment, seed improvement through PPB and seed governance vis-à-vis household food security. The study shows how the programme enhanced the empowerment of the respondent women and how gender-blind seed governance regimes at national and international levels restricted the empowerment of these women ultimately affecting the pillars of food security. We discuss some of the challenges encountered by the study in conceptualizing and operationalizing gender analysis to enhance women’s empowerment. The article further discusses the interplay of processes to both discipline gender norms and provides transformational opportunities towards gender equity created by public spaces such as the PBB programme. The article contributes to current discussions on the effective pathways to develop smallholder agriculture, enhance gender equity and enhance food security and rural livelihoods in the dry areas of the temperate world. 2017-06-01 2017-02-17T10:02:20Z 2017-02-17T10:02:20Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/79922 en Open Access Informa UK Limited Galiè, A., Jiggins, J., Struik, P.C., Grando, S. and Ceccarelli, S. 2017. Women’s empowerment through seed improvement and seed governance: Evidence from participatory barley breeding in pre-war Syria. NJAS-Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences 81:1-8.
spellingShingle women
food security
seeds
gender
development
food science
Galiè, Alessandra
Jiggins, Janice
Struik, Paul C.
Grando, S.
Ceccarelli, S.
Women’s empowerment through seed improvement and seed governance: Evidence from participatory barley breeding in pre-war Syria
title Women’s empowerment through seed improvement and seed governance: Evidence from participatory barley breeding in pre-war Syria
title_full Women’s empowerment through seed improvement and seed governance: Evidence from participatory barley breeding in pre-war Syria
title_fullStr Women’s empowerment through seed improvement and seed governance: Evidence from participatory barley breeding in pre-war Syria
title_full_unstemmed Women’s empowerment through seed improvement and seed governance: Evidence from participatory barley breeding in pre-war Syria
title_short Women’s empowerment through seed improvement and seed governance: Evidence from participatory barley breeding in pre-war Syria
title_sort women s empowerment through seed improvement and seed governance evidence from participatory barley breeding in pre war syria
topic women
food security
seeds
gender
development
food science
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/79922
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AT jigginsjanice womensempowermentthroughseedimprovementandseedgovernanceevidencefromparticipatorybarleybreedinginprewarsyria
AT struikpaulc womensempowermentthroughseedimprovementandseedgovernanceevidencefromparticipatorybarleybreedinginprewarsyria
AT grandos womensempowermentthroughseedimprovementandseedgovernanceevidencefromparticipatorybarleybreedinginprewarsyria
AT ceccarellis womensempowermentthroughseedimprovementandseedgovernanceevidencefromparticipatorybarleybreedinginprewarsyria