Dr Ranjitha Puskur is a socio-economist specializing in agricultural innovation systems and gender. Her research is focused on mobilizing science and knowledge for innovation to result in pro-women and pro-poor developmental outcomes in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. In her career, spanning 20 years in CGIAR at IWMI, ILRI, WorldFish and IRRI. She has led gender research programs including in the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems which for the first time in CGIAR focused on gender-transformative approaches and led to new thinking in the system. She has led work on gender-responsive breeding and seed systems and women’s entrepreneurship at IRRI, in her role as the leader of IRRI’s research program on Gender and Livelihoods. She leads the Evidence Module of the CGIAR GENDER Platform and leads work across CGIAR to synthesise, generate and communicate evidence on key thematic areas to influence policy, investments and practice. She leads the Work Package on equitable seed systems in the OneCGIAR initiative ‘SeEdQUAL’ and the Work Package on ‘Socio-technical Innovation Bundles for women’s empowerment and resilience’ in HER+. She holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from IARI in New Delhi, India.
At this course, Ranjitha will deliver lessons on market and gender-responsive plant breeding and seed systems.
