TAGDev 2.0 Inaugurates Gender and Nutrition Corner to Promote Women-Led Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture
Today, 13 August, 2026, TAGDev 2.0-HU officially inaugurated the Gender and Nutrition Corner at Ifa Oromia Kebele, one of the TAGDev 2.0 intervention sites and an important new addition to the project’s activities at Haramaya University.
As part of the initiative, the project distributed high-quality, zinc-rich haricot bean seed to 42 women, who are wives and members of households participating in the project’s seed potato producer group. Each woman received 2 kg of seed, which will be planted within the coming days. The initiative is intended to strengthen women’s participation in household agricultural production while promoting the production and consumption of nutritious, micronutrient-rich foods alongside the project’s ongoing seed potato interventions.
The Gender and Nutrition Corner represents an important step towards integrating gender, nutrition and livelihood improvement into TAGDev 2.0’s agricultural interventions. Rather than focusing solely on agricultural production and income generation, the initiative seeks to strengthen the link between what households produce, what they consume, and the nutritional well-being of women and other household members.
In the next phase, participating women will receive nutrition awareness training and behavior change communication to strengthen knowledge and practices related to dietary diversity, food preparation, household nutrition and the utilization of locally available nutritious foods. The initiative will also promote the production of nutrient-rich crops, including avocado, papaya and orange-fleshed sweet potato, as part of a broader backyard agriculture initiative. Improved food preparation and cooking practices will also be promoted to help households translate increased food production into better diets and improved nutritional outcomes.
Through these interconnected interventions, the project aims not only to improve household nutrition but also to strengthen women’s productive roles, diversify household food and livelihood sources, and enhance the resilience of participating families.
The inauguration and seed distribution were also attended by some of the project’s PhD Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs). Their participation provided an important opportunity to engage directly with farming communities and to observe how gender, nutrition, agricultural production and community engagement can be integrated within TAGDev 2.0 interventions. The engagement also enables the PhD GTAs to relate these practical experiences to their respective academic and research projects.
The Gender and Nutrition Corner will therefore serve as a practical platform for demonstrating how nutrition-sensitive agriculture, women’s empowerment, research, training and community engagement can be brought together to contribute to improved household nutrition and sustainable rural livelihoods.
Tags: Agricultural Development, Capacity Building, Gender and Nutrition Corner, Gender Mainstreaming, higher education, Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture, Rural Development, sustainable agriculture, TAGDEV 2.0, Women Empowerment, Women-Led Agriculture
