Rural Women Striding Forward

Global Fund for Women believes the empowerment of rural women, a continued focus on food security, and access to resources are women's rights issues; all three are needed to address critical gaps in human rights and development processes. To this end, Global Fund launched a 2.5 year grant making and learning initiative in June 2011 to support 22 rural women's groups working on sustainable agriculture and the promotion of women's rights in Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Uganda. Our research framework addressed critical questions regarding constraints facing women farmers, and their preferred strategies for enhanced agricultural performance and advocacy for their human rights. We expected the learnings would provide strategic direction for grantees' work, Global Fund programs and the funding practices of other donor and development actors. This summary shares key findings from the 2013 evaluation of the initiative