Men and women engaged in agriculture have different opportunities, preferences and needs, and successful development interventions hinge on understanding and accounting for these differences. WLE is developing tools and approaches that can help investors, planners and other decision makers understand the gender dynamics in a given context, giving them the best starting point for increasing equity.

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 agricultural decisions and resources, but sometimes they suffer additional burdens. WLE is working to shed light on these dynamics to understand how agricultural societies and systems can cope with the impacts of migration. WLE/IWMI facilitate the MARIS (Migration, Agriculture and Resilience: Initiative for Sustainability) network.

More than half the globe's population is below 30 years of age, and almost 90 percent of youths live in emerging and developing economies in the Middle East and Africa. WLE is working with partners to explore what roles youths play in agriculture, now and in the future.