Cracking the Nut 2021: Building Resilient Food, Water, and Energy Systems by Connexus Corporation is a four half-day virtual learning event from November 15-18, 2021. This yearâs conference will highlight how public and private sector initiatives can create resilient systems that support rural and agricultural development and will focus on three tracks:
1. Applying technology and digital solutions
2. Leveraging private sector and multi-stakeholder investments
3. Ensuring inclusion of vulnerable populations
This year, under Track #3 NCBA CLUSA and Helen Keller International will highlight factors of women’s empowerment that can lead to improved family nutrition from their work on the USAID Feed the Future (FTF) Senegal Kawolor Project. Kawolor, which aims to fight malnutrition, food insecurity and poverty, has taken a multi-pronged food systems approach to address household decision-making and family nutrition. While Senegal has made significant strides in promoting gender equality, womenâs lack of household-level decision-making continues to serve as an impediment for their empowerment. Meanwhile, evidence shows that ill-informed decision-making related to food provisions and dietary diversity has a negative impact on family nutrition.
Kawolor employed quantitative and qualitative methods to explore factors of womenâs empowerment for better family nutrition, including leadership in the community, control over use of income, time use, and ownership of assets. Additionally, focus groups with women and men were conducted under the evaluation of a participatory gender-transformative curriculum âNurturing Connections.
This interactive session will explore the project’s approaches to engage community members, couples, women, and men on family nutrition and present quantitative and qualitative methods for evaluating these approaches.
Cracking the Nut 2021 will provide a demandâdriven, collaborative learning space where participants can share their own experiences and best practices on innovative approaches to expand food production, manage water resources, and generate clean energy in ways that increase rural incomes and improve equitable access to sustainable sources of food, water, and energy. Early bird registration ends June 30, secure your ticket today: