Gender-inclusive research methodology (GIRM) identifies gender as a significant variable in development studies. It gives equal values to women’s and men’s experiences and viewpoints by understanding the gender relations within the social, political and economic structures. Reflecting on the complex power dynamics between women and men, the GRIM offers researchers the analytical frameworks that
counteract the historic bias and focus on critical issues for inclusive, equitable and sustainable development.

In agriculture research, where male’s perspectives are dominant in understanding the problems, employing gender analysis will result to understand the differential experiences of poverty among household members and women’s contributions for household production. This will contribute where women’s contribution is seldom recognised in policy or even less in implementation strategy nor is measured in
national accounts, irrespective of their hard work on securing household food through agriculture production and other related livelihoods.

The prolonged neglect of gender dimension from the research community, under-recognition of women as farmers, producers, and managers or as buyers can have
daunting impacts on the lives of women, sustainability of development efforts and also on the national economy. For agriculture research to be inclusive, it should consider the differential needs, preferences, and constraints of female farmers. This means the gendered research framework that looks into the local knowledge of low-impact, low-cost methods and coping strategies held by women could be tapped and be utilised in capacity building for resilient farming systems in response to changing environment. Combining such knowledge with a new research framework which is class and caste inclusive can contribute towards agriculture and environment sustainability (Meinzen-Dick et al., 2010).

To address these factors it requires us to revisit the research questions, and the framework that is gendered, providing new perspectives, and raising new questions. Addressing these concerns for a gender inclusive research framework, IRRAD has planned to organise a half day roundtable discussion. This discussion will highlight the gender inequalities that persist right from the farm to the plate and will review the existing research method and frameworks for gender inclusive. This platform would help to bridge the gaps between the academics and practitioners and generate a list of research priorities for a gender focus in agriculture research.

If this is of interest to you, and you would like to contribute/participate, please get in touch with Mr Bastola who is available at a.bastola(at)irrad.org