Fostering gender-transformative change for equality in food systems: a review of methods and strategies at multiple levels

This working paper aims to elucidate current and emerging methods and strategies that may support gender-transformative change in food systems at and across multiple levels. As such, the working paper not only asks what gender-transformative methods and strategies exist at different levels, but also inquires more deeply: How do current and emerging gender-transformative methods and strategies inform the understanding and framing of transformative change toward equality in food systems at scale?

To this end, the working paper shares and examines an illustrative set of methods and strategies that contribute (or have the potential to contribute) to gender-transformative change in food systems. The paper conceptualizes and reflects on this set of methods and strategies at three levels: local, meso and macro, and  intraorganizational. Within this set and at each level, the paper critically considers these methods and strategies in relation to three key analytical dimensions: intersectionality, accessibility and scalability. These dimensions were identified in early analysis for this working paper as being important and in need of further strengthening and clarification in relation to supporting gender-transformative change at scale.

Through the above, the working paper illustrates relatively established gender-transformative methods for local-scale programming, such as household methodologies. The paper also draws attention to emerging strategies that are gaining attention for use at the meso and macro levels (such as changes to financial and data systems and feminist foreign policies) as well as at intraorganizational levels (including organizational culture change processes Fostering gender-transformative change for equality in food systems: a review of methods and strategies at multiple levels that foster gender equality). Through its analysis, the working paper offers insights into core mechanisms of gender-transformative methods and strategies needed to catalyze transformative change. These include reflexivity to surface naturalized inequalities, and action learning processes at the local and intraorganizational levels to disrupt normative constraints that otherwise (re-)create inequalities.

The paper suggests the need for agencies to explicitly invest in a multilevel strategy of scaling out, up and in. We propose that it is through such an interconnected, multi-actor and multilevel approach that we may collectively create a tipping point toward gender equality in food systems.