Evidence from several African countries suggests that female farmers are as efficient as male farmers, but are less productive because they are denied equal access to productive inputs and human capital. If their access to these inputs were at par with men’s access, total agricultural output in these countries could increase by up to 30% and increase agricultural output by up to 4%.

Integrating gender in programs, policies and projects thus aims to reduce gender disparities and enhance women’s participation in the economic development and their empowerment.

In 2012, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) adopted a gender strategy to guide the integration of gender in its work. The purpose of this manual is to provide operational guidance to ILRI staff and partners on how to integrate gender into the project cycle in accordance with the gender strategy.

The need for this manual arises both from the evidence that gender plays an important role in determining economic growth, poverty reduction, and development effectiveness, and from the less-than-systematic integration of gender concerns into livestock projects and programs.

The manual is organized into two main sections. The first section covers the key concepts of gender, the rationale
for gender mainstreaming in livestock development projects and programs and raises the key issues in gender and
livestock development. The second section covers the integration of gender into the project cycle, from problem and
context analysis, project design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

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