Lahore: Over 30 representatives from leading Punjab-based private sector agri-tech partners participated in a training workshop on gender integration and environmental compliance organised by USAID’s Pakistan Agricultural Technology Transfer Activity (PATTA). Participants discussed the expansion of innovative and affordable agricultural technologies to reach Pakistani women entrepreneurs and farmers and inclusion of environmental compliance in Pakistan’s agricultural technology sector.
The workshop introduced participants to USAID’s global Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy (2012), which focuses on integrating gender equality and female empowerment across all levels and harnessing technology to reduce gender gaps. USAID PATTA aims to accelerate women’s role in agribusiness and raise their incomes. The project also aims to link women to 500 commercialised agricultural technologies for sustainable growth.
Many of the women present at the workshop spoke about the limited access to resources and innovative tools in the agriculture sector. To help participants pave a more gender-inclusive environment at their workplaces, PATTA facilitated them to develop their companies’ Gender Inclusive Action Plan to identify practical mechanisms for expanding women’s access to responsive and competitive agricultural technologies.
Rabia Sarfraz, a representative of Ali Akbar Group said, “I am thankful to USAID for this thoughtful initiative and helping me analyse gender-responsive policies at my workplace. I now understand the importance of integrating a gender-sensitive approach in agricultural technology transfer to women farmers. Inclusion of women in awareness sessions on ag-tech adoption is also critical.”
The workshop also included an orientation session on USAID’s environmental compliance procedures, regulations, and best practices in areas of health and safety in relation to agricultural techniques such as Integrated Pest Management. Recommendations from this session focused on embracing new environment-friendly agricultural technologies which can help conserve the environment and allow farmers to improve sustainable agricultural efficiency.
“The Gender Integration and Environmental Compliance Training Workshop is an important step towards providing exposure to the PATTA partner companies and stakeholders. This initial training will be followed by other initiatives to support women in agri-tech,” stated Jean Francois Guay, Chief of Party PATTA.
PATTA will organize similar training workshops for private sector partners in Sindh. The project’s emphasis is on its efforts with the private sector to eradicate the social barriers and gender-stereotypes that restrict women from embracing current technologies or frame them as unable to operate technical equipment and modern agricultural tools. By 2021, PATTA will ensure that 122,500 farmers have adopted improved environment-friendly agri technologies to enhance Pakistan’s agricultural sector