Women farmers in developing countries, including Pakistan, face challenges in accessing agriculture extension advisory services, with most of those services geared towards the needs of male farmers. Alongside other challenges faced by women farmers, this contributes to the gender gap in agriculture productivity in developing countries, whereby women-managed farms are 20–30% less productive than farms managed by men. It has been estimated that closing this gap would help to boost agriculture production by 2.5–4%, improve food security and improve the welfare of rural households (FAO, 2011).

In the context of the launch of CABI’s new PlantwisePlus programme in Pakistan, which aims to enhance the knowledge and uptake of climate-smart plant health practices through responsive digital advisory tools, this report presents the results of an assessment of the current state of gender-sensitive extension services in Pakistan, and provides recommendations for making improvements.