Towards Embedding Gender Dimension in Philippine Agricultural Value Chains: A Critical Review

How does a gendered approach in value chains (VC) help ensure that critical concerns among women and children in relation to food security and prevailing poverty will be addressed? Globalized commodity chains have changed the landscape of production of goods and services, with emphasis on production segmentation and distribution. This paves the way for an increasing reliance on developing countries as sources of raw materials and labor. This holds true for Mindanao as producer of top agricultural products. In Mindanao, several programs towards pro-poor inclusive agricultural VC have been launched with the goal of promoting a more equitable sharing of economic and social benefits among players. However, the gender dimension is lacking in the VC literature, particularly in the Philippine setting, despite efforts toward inclusiveness. Integrating a localized gender dimension in agricultural VC studies offer a wealth of opportunities to fill in the literature gap and sustain gender discourse in agriculture. Theoretical perspectives, as well as empirical and case studies, will be examined, with the goal of developing a localized gendered agricultural value chain approach. It will explore future directions of gender studies in Philippine agricultural value chains and other related country experiences across commodities and cultural differences