Checklist of Gender issues for project preparation and appraisal
Information Needed/Questions Benefits of Gender Analysis

Clarify gender roles and their implications for project strategies:

  • What are the gender roles and existing gender division of labor?
  • What are their implications for project strategies?
Main actors can be identified and targeted. Labor constraints within the household will be recognized. Components and interventions to further project goals can be reliably identified.

Analyze eligibility to receive project inputs and services and to participate in project activities:

  • Are there gender differences in eligibility to receive project inputs and services and to participate in project activities or benefits?
Credit, inputs, and extension can be made available for those doing the activity being promoted. Incentives increase when the person doing the work benefits from the revenue.

Examine outreach capabilities:

  • Do institutions and services have direct contact with men and women farmers?
Research will be informed by the technology needs of all farmers; for example, drugs can be developed and made available for small ruminants and poultry kept by women.

Assess the appropriateness of proposed technical packages, messages, and technologies:

  • Are they appropriate for both men and women?
Greater acceptance of technical packages and activities will help realize the project’s full potential.

Examine the distribution of benefits and its effect on incentives:

  • Will both men and women receive benefits and incentives from the project?
 Women will be more likely to support the project if they benefit, for example, by gaining an independent source of income.

Consider the reliability of feedback mechanisms:

  • Will reporting and monitoring be gender-disaggregated?
  • How reliable are feedback mechanisms?
Project planners need to know if the proposed interventions are acceptable to men and women. Technologies will be more suitable and adaptable where local women participate in selecting and testing technologies and in evaluating results. Project managers will know the project benefits to men and women. Project objectives can be better served.

Anticipate changes in the gender roles and link these to expected project impact.

  • Ho will men and women farm differently?
  • How will their access to resources differ?
  • Will workloads increase?
  • What affect will the project have on women's and men's independent income, status, food security, household cash flow, and family health?
 Project planner will know the likely effect of the project on all members of the rural community.

Sources: Monica S. Fong and Anjana Bhushan, Toolkit on Gender in Agriculture.
Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 1996