The world’s leading agriculture innovation network, CGIAR and 20 partners have committed US$31 million over four years (2023-2027) to ensure that climate innovations in agrifood systems are designed to work for women and rolled out in ways that address underlying gender inequalities.
Together with the partners, CGIAR launched the AIM for Climate Innovation Sprint on Addressing Gender Inequality for Effective Climate Action in Agrifood Systems on Sunday in Dubai, UAE.
The Sprint will achieve its aims through three main pillars of work: 1) testing new climate innovations that address both climate change and gender inequality; 2) promoting more widespread, inclusive uptake of climate solutions; and 3) developing metrics to measure progress towards these goals.
The announcement was made during the COP28 side event “Tackling gender inequality for effective climate action in food systems”, organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the International Potato Center (CIP), and the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform.
“The ultimate goal of this Sprint is to strengthen the capacity of low-income countries to design policies and interventions with a combined gender and climate lens,” said Elizabeth Bryan, Senior Scientist at IFPRI.
The Innovation Sprint will build on and amplify the ongoing work of CGIAR, with support from CGIAR Trust Fund Contributors and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
It will also work with partners—from other research organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector—to accelerate the development of agricultural innovations that advance climate resilience and gender equality.
“We must act now to transform agrifood systems to deliver gender equality and increase resilience to climate change,” said Nicoline de Haan, Director of the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform.
An innovation sprint is a vehicle under AIM for Climate, a joint initiative by the United States and the UAE. Each innovation sprint represents an increase in aggregate self-financed investment from non-government partners to achieve an outcome in agricultural innovation and for climate-smart agriculture and food systems to be completed in an expedited timeframe.
