also received support in case study writing (e.g., template
to write a gender-sensitive case study). 2SCALE reports
progress systematically in quarterly M&E reports and posts
field stories and best practices on its website.
Ensuring Gender-Responsive Delivery
of Services and Capacity Building by
Coaches of BSSs
Throughout the coaching process, it was noted that,
because of gender-specific constraints, women’s presence
in particular ABCs remained limited (e.g., 20% of farmers on
average in partnerships in Ethiopia) and their participation
in capacity-building activities challenging. A study was
carried out in Mali to understand the specific barriers
preventing women from fully participating in ABC activities
(Diakité, 2015). These include low literacy, poor access to
information, and limited time and mobility due to gender
roles and social norms. As a result, the 2SCALE team in Mali
developed guidelines to ensure that trainers and coaches
of BSSs would pay attention to the way they deliver
their services.
Special measures include:
• Explicitly inviting female actors in the ABC
to trainings through appropriate channels and
establishing quotas, such as requiring at least 40% of
participants to be women.
• Encouraging men to allow their spouses and
daughters to attend trainings.
• Allowing women to bring their breastfeeding children
to sessions.
• Organizing special sessions aimed exclusively at
women on relevant topics linked to their activities and
needs. For example, in Mali during 2015 and 2016, 200
female processors from the Bè man kan cooperative
were trained in parboiled rice techniques and how to
store paddy rice, thus contributing to improved quality
of their products.
• Holding demonstration plots on fields owned or
cultivated by women in order to encourage learning by
doing. This strategy was implemented in onion ABCs
in Mali and resulted in an increase in yields from 8 to
26 tons per hectare (t/ha).
• Having mixed teams of trainers (male/female),
when possible.
• Looking at logistical aspects that can hinder or
promote participation, such as:
* Scheduling sessions while taking women’s
responsibilities and obligations into consideration.
For instance, this includes avoiding holding
trainings during early morning, late afternoon, or on
market days and limiting the duration of training.
This is best done by consulting female actors on
timing and location before organizing the training.
* Ensuring the training venue is located close to the
homes, ensuring safe transportation and cost-
sharing transport fees.
* Adopting gender-sensitive facilitation methods
by creating an atmosphere in which women and
men feel respected, safe, and encouraged to share
their views and experiences. A Benin study on best
gender mainstreaming practices showed that the
use of discussion rounds and plenary and group
sessions with female ABC actors during trainings
have created opportunities to integrate their own
opinion and broach problems from their perspective
(Igelroth, 2016).
Women and youth
participate in a
2SCALE training
in pineapple
production – Pineapple
Partnership, Benin.
12