Cambodia Horticulture Advancing Income and Nutrition program (CHAIN)

The main objective of the CHAIN programme is to support low-income, smallholder farmers to increase their productivity and income and to improve food security, nutrition and climate resilience in Cambodia. CHAIN does this by developing and strengthening horticulture value chains through a market systems development approach, in close collaboration with public and private sector actors. A gender analysis carried out for the CHAIN programme identified that women , who comprise a majority of farmers in the target provinces, are exposed to more climate risk than men, as a result of existing inequalities.

CHAIN used a toolkit by AgriProFocus to identify and analyse the gender-based constraints in agriculture and to collect information about women’s and men’s differential access to and control over assets, resources and services.

CHAIN then adopted a gender-transformative approach to creating more effective, climate-resilient value chains.

CHAIN developed gender strategies in each phase of the programme to: (a) reduce women’s heavy workloads, (b) free up time for training and other capacity-building activities, (c) enhance women’s limited decision-making abilities at household level, (d) develop gender-responsive service-delivery among other stakeholders and e) strengthen women’s businesses. These strategies paid off: CHAIN has enabled women to achieve their aspirations of earning their own money and contributing financially to the family. Through modern, climate-smart production techniques, especially mulching and drip irrigation, women have increased their income, saved labour and become more resilient to droughts.

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