CGIAR GENDER Platform 77d ago

Since 2020, the vegetable sector in Ethiopia has been a testing ground for integrated approaches that link productivity, inclusion, nutrition, and sustainability. Through the Veggies 4 Planet & People (V4P&P) project, World Vegetable Center and SNV worked to strengthen women’s and youth participation in vegetable value chains by combining regenerative agriculture, market linkages, business development, and capacity building. Building on this foundation, the CGIAR Gender Equality Initiative, known as HER+, partnered with World Veg Center, SNV and Green Agro Solution PLC (through the Lersha platform) to co-design and embed gender-transformative socio-technical innovation bundles (GT-STIBs) within V4P&P. The aim was to move beyond stand-alone technologies and deliberately integrate technical, social, and institutional innovations that reinforce each other and address deeply rooted gendered constraints. GT-STIBs were piloted in Welmera and Ejere woredas in the Oromia region, which served as HER+ learning labs. These learning labs created a participatory space where farmers, implementers, and researchers jointly diagnosed challenges, tested bundled solutions, and generated evidence on empowerment, resilience, and nutrition outcomes. Early results show that when regenerative practices, gender-responsive and nutrition-sensitive training, digital advisory and market services, and indigenous knowledge are intentionally bundled, adoption increases and impacts deepen. Some evidence and lessons from this webinar.