Smart Farming for Gender Equity

Funded by:Research Ireland (Research Ireland SDG Challenge (SFI Future Innovator Prize)

Partnership Institutions:International Institute for Tropical Agriculture–Malawi (IITA-M) and NASFAM, Malawi’s largest farmer organisation

The project titled —Empowering Malawian Women Farmers through Precision Agriculture and Market E-Linkages (EMPOWER-ME)—brings together a multi-disciplinary team from Ireland and Malawi to deliver a transformative, gender-responsive agricultural intervention. The project aims to enhance the productivity, food security, and economic resilience of smallholder women farmers through culturally aligned, site-specific Digital Agricultural Technologies (DAT).

By combining systems agronomy, climate resilience, market access and gender-transformative training, the project will co-create tailored agronomic advisories delivered through mobile-based platforms, including low-tech formats to reach digitally excluded women. With activities spanning two phases—Concept and Seed—the project maps local contexts and trials integrated solutions through on-farm experimentation and technology pilots.

The EMPOWER-ME project exemplifies CSD’s ongoing commitment to gender-inclusive, scalable innovations in sustainable development, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.