Gender Differentiation of Farmer Preferences for Varietal Traits in Crop Improvement: Evidence and Issues

Changes in agro-ecological as well as socio-economic conditions lead to transformations of food and farming systems worldwide. Using plant varieties with new or different sets of traits can be one option for farmers to adapt to these changes; however, coping strategies and related varietal traits may vary for different groups of farmers, depending for example on their access to resources and assets, and their production goals. Gender is one major social category for which differences in this regard can be expected. Hence, the overall aim of the present work was to systematically review the “state of the art” of gender differentiation with regard to varietal trait preferences in order to identify options for breeding programs to better address gender-specific needs, and how they may need to change in order to become more gender-sensitive.