We still work now. We do household work now. The work we used to leave for another day—we complete it today

This woman, who lives in Nigali village in western Nepal, is one of several supposed to benefit from a new water scheme. Implementers assumed that placing a water source nearby would free up time for women, allowing them to produce vegetables and become economically empowered. But that is not how it worked out: the women simply spent their newly gained time on more housework.

The experience from Nepal underscores the conclusions of several years of WLE research on gender equity in agriculture: myths can derail otherwise well-intended development efforts. It is always essential to challenge existing assumptions and to investigate the true local context, including barriers to women’s participation in agriculture.

Scientists have proposed four undervalued lines of inquiry that can shed light on how to effectively work with women, and WLE is developing a growing suite of tools that can give decision makers a better foundation for achieving greater gender equity.

Investing in understanding the constantly changing realities in agriculture is increasingly important. Migration plays a big role as men are leaving rural areas in favor of jobs in urban centers. This sometimes leaves women with greater control over decisions and resources, but sometimes they suffer additional burdens.

In other cases, migration is a coping mechanism for dealing increasing weather variability, as in Uganda, where a majority of youth might be interested in agriculture, but lack the support to break into what’s considered an increasingly risky sector. In any case, youth moving away from farms might have some positives.

Building capacity for dealing with these new and often complex realities is critical: scientists evaluating water users associations in Tajikistan found that those receiving training for a longer period perform better and that female farmers need more training in the face of male emigration.

By being engaged in participatory research in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, communities realized that their intensive farming was detrimental to ecosystems and changed their ways. Finally, some development practitioners and researchers trained on ecosystems-based approaches started using related tools in their work, showing their appreciation of the value of ecosystems.

Leaving no one behind is a prerequisite to sustainable intensification of agriculture. In this perspective, equity and social inclusion are essential elements of a thriving ecosystem.

WLE’s partners in this work include IFPRI, IWMI and Bioversity International.