Boosting Agriculture and Food Security (BAFS) Project – Gender Assessment and Gender Policy Formulation

CP served as the Key Gender Expert for the EU-funded Boosting Agriculture and Food Security (BAFS) project (2017 – 2021) in Sierra Leone. GIZ International Services in partnership with the West African Rice Company (WARC) provides technical assistance to BAFS in Sierra Leone, implemented through the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) covering fifteen, rural districts in Sierra Leone. In January/February 2018 CP led a gender analysis to inform the effective integration of gender in project planning and programming. This includes providing recommendations to inform three grant components, focusing on tree crops, other crops, and livestock and agri-business, as well as institutional capacity-building for MAF and formulation of gender-sensitive food security strategies and sector policies. The January/February 2018 gender analysis included a primary literature review and fieldwork in several of the targeted districts including Kenema in Eastern Province and Bombali and Koinadugu in Northern Province. In August 2018, one of the top recommendations of the assessment, to formulate a MAF Gender in Agriculture Policy, was implemented with technical support from CP in partnership with MAF’s Gender in Agriculture and Nutrition Unit in its Extension Division. CP also helped to form a Gender Working Group to support the eventual implementation of the policy.