Transforming Data into Action – Implementing Gender Analyses in Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Interventions: An Experience from Cambodia

The negative effects of gender disparities on nutrition outcomes for women and children are well documented. Gender analyses are often used at the start of projects to capture contextual factors contributing to persisting inequalities and malnutrition but there is a dearth of information about processes for applying findings to program designs and activities at the implementation level. The authors describe a three-phase process used by Helen Keller International (HKI) in 2015–2016 for a nutrition-sensitive program called Family Farms for the Future in rural Cambodia that included: (1) a community-based gender assessment; (2) a workshop to interpret findings from the assessment; and (3) a strategy to incorporate gender-relevant findings into program activities. The gender analysis used qualitative methods involving 32 participatory group activities and 20 individual interviews with men, women, and elders in the program communities. Findings and insights gained from this analysis revealed persistent and different gender disparities and perceptions from each respondent group regarding the reasons for the inequalities. A workshop organized to share the gender analysis findings with program implementers generated ideas and strategies for incorporating and translating findings into program activities. This three-phase process was crucial not only to reveal and understand barriers to socio-economic empowerment of women, but also to obtain buy-in from program implementers and to encourage use of their insights to translate findings into practical strategies and activities to address gender disparities that may influence nutrition and health outcomes of women and children.