The Tool
This tool has been developed for businesses to allow them to directly enter data, in order to assess their business operations from a gender perspective at three levels: human capital, productivity management, and market. The tool will walk businesses through a three-step process to collect data about where women are within agribusiness operations, provide a report analyzing the data showing gender gaps in women and men participation as employees and suppliers, as well as highlighting the policies, practices and systems that should be in place for a business to support gender inclusion. Finally, the report will provide recommendations on action steps businesses can take towards increasing women's inclusion across core business areas.
The self-assessment uses key business information to identify opportunities for growth by tapping into women's potential.
Focus Areas
Human Capital Management
This section helps you gather sex disaggregated data about the distribution of work and leadership roles and helps your organization optimize human resources by minimizing employee turnover and by improving employee performance.
Productivity Management
This section gathers information about the gender composition of your company's raw material suppliers (cooperative members, associated producers, individual small- or large-scale producers) and about who benefits from services that you offer. Identifying differences in productivity of men and women can uncover social or structural barriers that could in turn be addressed and lead to increased supply network productivity.
Market
This section gathers information about marketing practices and offers guidance to recognize women's and men's differentiated needs, interests and trends. Including information about these gendered needs, interests and trends can contribute to improved segmentation and ultimately to increased sales. Inclusive practices can also be marketed in themselves, as part of the unique value of your products and services.
Gains
Action
Identify areas for actions that you can undertake to improve women's participation and gender inclusion in your business, and access information about why these actions are important.
System
Identify what business practices and systems you can adopt that will increase participation and gender inclusion.
Communications
Clearly communicate to stakeholders your commitment to gender inclusion and the important steps you will take towards it.
Progress
You can conduct this self-assessment more than once, which will allow you to track your progress.
If you want to know more about what the assessment results will tell you and how you can use them please Click here.
This project to design gender inclusion approaches for small and growing businesses in the agriculture sector has been led by Value for Women (VfW), along with the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) with the financial support of the Walmart Foundation US. The VfW team efforts were led by Cecilia Lazarte and Daniela Moctezuma; with support from Norman Sarria, Stephanie Finigan and Lindsey Jones-Renaud. The ANDE efforts were led by the Central America and Mexico Chapter. Value for Women would like to extend a special thank you to the ANDE members and other businesses and organizations in Mexico that participated, guided and supported this project. These include Citibanamex, CREA Comunidad de Emprendedores Sociales, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), El Buen Socio, Fundación Walmart México, Heifer International, NUUP, Root Capital, Technoserve, Toks and Universidad Tecnológica de los Valles Centrales de Oaxaca.
