Overview & Objectives
The Impacting Gender and Nutrition through Innovative Technical Exchange in Agriculture (IGNITE) project is a five-year investment (2018-2023) implemented by Tanager, in partnership with Laterite, and 60 decibels. The mechanism aims to strengthen African institutions’ ability to mainstream nutrition-sensitive and gender-integrated approaches into their way of doing business and agriculture interventions.

Country-Level Gender Champions Tasks
To bolster gender mainstreaming within each operational country, SAA has appointed Gender Champions in its all country offices. These champions are tasked with fostering gender integration and enhancing gender-mainstreaming strategies within SAA’s activities, focusing on addressing gender-related challenges in target regions.

Training Objectives
A training was organized in Kampala from February 5 -7, 2024, aimed at developing capacities in gender integration, particularly within SAA’s Regenerative Agriculture pillar.  The goal of the training was to equip SAA’s Gender Champions with the knowledge to incorporate gender-transformative practices and approaches into SAA initiatives with the following key expected outcomes including:

• Improved ability to recognize and take account of gender issues in SAA program and project engagement as well as in their work.

• Improved understanding of how to identify and harness relevant gender-transformative agriculture practices.

• Improved knowledge about tools and approaches that may be applied in gender-transformative programming.

Throughout the training, participants engaged deeply in discussions surrounding gender integration, recognizing its fundamental importance in identifying and dismantling barriers that impede the equal participation of all individuals, regardless of gender or ability. Key lessons emerged from the enriching dialogue:

• Gender integration in programming is indispensable. It serves as a crucial tool to pinpoint and address the factors that hinder the full and equal participation of women, men, boys, girls, and individuals with special needs.

• Acknowledging the triple work burden carried by women is essential. Participants emphasized the need to systematically challenge patriarchal norms and structures that perpetuate gender inequalities.

• Analyze available opportunities at the organizational level that promote gender integration engagements across programs. Incorporate the support from top management to grassroots-level expertise. Magnify the business case of gender integration in promoting regenerative agricultural practices and impacts.

• Reinforce the finalization of the Gender strategy and its implementation across SAA country offices which will serve as guiding frameworks to steer gender integration efforts toward tangible outcomes.

• Ensure that Gender integration works are core elements in the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning aspects of the programming.

Conclusion
The conclusion of the training for Gender Champions in the IGNITE project was met with unanimous appreciation from participants. They felt empowered with the skills and knowledge to spearhead gender integration within SAA’s initiatives, recognizing the session as a pivotal step towards embedding gender sensitivity into the fabric of their work. Key takeaways for further action included:

• Enhanced Training: A call for deeper, thematic training on gender aspects, particularly around M&E and gender analysis, to refine their approach and impact.
• Management Engagement: A strategic push for more active involvement from SAA’s management to ensure gender integration is championed at all organizational levels.
• Cross-Office Collaboration: An emphasis on the need for offices to work together in harmonizing gender integration efforts, ensuring it is a central tenet of SAA’s strategy and operations.

This session marked a significant stride towards ingraining gender integration across SAA, with a clear path laid out for bolstering these efforts through targeted training, management support, and collaborative practices.