Making climate-smart technologies work for women farmers: insights from cases of bundling innovations in India

Women farmers in South Asia face distinct gender-based challenges, exacerbated by climate change. Their adaptive capacity is limited due to their limited access to resources and services, due to deeply embedded discriminating social norms. Access to climate smart agriculture is critical for them to strengthen their resilience. However, technology development and dissemination commonly disregard gender considerations, perpetuating a ‘gender blind’ approach. Mere technological advancement is therefore insufficient without the support of inclusive policies and institutions. While there is a growing emphasis on the importance of engaging multiple stakeholders and bundling various technical and social innovations, systematic and documented methodologies enabling such integrations are lacking. There is limited literature providing clear guidance on leveraging climate-smart agricultural (CSA) technologies to empower women and enhance their resilience. This paper aims to partially fill these gaps through an analysis of four case studies conducted in India as a part of the CGIAR’s Gender Equality Initiative. These cases focus on projects and programs that have bundled social, technical, and technological innovations to strengthen women’s empowerment and resilience. The interventions described in these case studies were designed to facilitate a shift in agricultural practices aimed at mitigating the impacts of climate change, while also elevating women’s economic conditions. Although not originally planned as innovation bundles, the interventions implemented across these cases exhibited an organic interconnection. Social innovations, which are often overlooked, emerged as an integral component of the bundling process, fostering an enabling environment for women. However, ad-hoc bundling revealed certain gaps including limited involvement of male stakeholders, insufficient recognition of women’s unpaid care work, and a lack of gender responsiveness in designing climate-smart technologies. The study underscores the need for intentional bundling tailored to contextual requirements to ensure sustainable impact, empowerment, and resilience.