What works for gender-norm change?: enhancing gender-inclusive agricultural development programming

Abstract

This Research for Development (R4D) Policy Report summarizes findings from a meta-analysis of external evaluations of Ethiopian agricultural development projects, while also highlighting best practices around gender programming. It explores: What works for gender norm change in agricultural development projects? Intent on building a body of evidence, the inclusion criteria required documents to be: external; methodologically rigorous; incorporate gender in the evaluation; and demonstrate social norm change. With this strict inclusion criteria, external evaluations were then assessed for best practices (n=2), while the disqualified evaluations (n=24) were analyzed for areas in need of improvement. The findings show that the CARE Ethiopia office is producing the most rigorous and successful projects around gender norm change. Agricultural development project evaluations are currently a lost opportunity for learning ‘what works’ for gender norm change. The findings outline both what to do and highlight what to avoid in undertaking gender transformative development.