Pursuing Gender Equality Through Investment in Rural Communities—Root Capital Case Study

Promoting gender equity is core to Root Capital’s mandate of improving rural livelihoods. The organization approaches gender equity with a broad awareness of the challenges faced by rural women, and a corresponding commitment to support women as critical leaders in agriculture and as multipliers of impact for their families and communities. Root Capital supports the advancement of rural women, whether on the farm or in the boardroom, by practicing gender lens investing (GLI). For Root Capital, GLI is a holistic practice that applies across its programmatic work and internal operations; these efforts are strategically housed under its cross-organizational Women in Agriculture Initiative (WAI) to promote opportunities for women in agricultural supply chains.

This report documents Root Capital’s GLI journey, capturing the organization’s goals and motivations, path toward realizing those goals, challenges faced, results of the work, factors behind success, and key learning. It describes Root Capital’s entry points to GLI, and how the organization gradually proceeded to embed gender across its programs and operations.

Key audiences for this report include those who aspire to increase their exposure to GLI practices and potentially adopt approaches in their own organizations, as well as the organizations they support and partner with. Insights will be most relevant for:

• Impact investors, especially those with an agricultural focus;
• Organizations promoting gender equity in rural communities; and
• Development donors and investors.

The report highlights best practice examples, tools, and strategies from Root Capital’s experience that investors and donors can tailor to their specific contexts and priorities.