October 2017 TOP POLICY LESSONS FROM AFRICA GENDER INNOVATION LAB RESEARCH TEACHING PERSONAL INITIATIVE BEATS TRADITIONAL 1.  TRAINING IN BOOSTING SMALL BUSINESS IN WEST AFRICA GENDER INNOVATION LAB Our study in Togo reveals that psychology-based entrepreneur training (personal initiative training) increases firm profits by 30%, compared to a statistically The Gender Innovation insignificant increase for traditional business training. Personal initiative training Lab (GIL) conducts impact was particularly effective for female-owned businesses, who saw their profits evaluations of development increase by 40%, compared to no impact from traditional business training. interventions in Sub-Saharan Working Paper I Blog Africa, seeking to generate evidence on how to close the gender gap in earnings, SUPPORTING FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS TO ENTER 2.  productivity, assets and MALE DOMINATED SECTORS CAN BOOST PROFITS agency. The GIL team is currently working on over Getting more women into traditionally male-dominated sectors of the economy could boost the incomes of women entrepreneurs and their households. Our 50 impact evaluations in 21 study in Ethiopia revealed that firms owned by women who cross over into male- countries with the aim of dominated sectors are two times more profitable than firms owned by women building an evidence base who remain in traditionally female sectors, and they are just as profitable as with lessons for the region. businesses owned by men. Women are more likely to cross-over when parents and husbands support them and when they have access to information on the The impact objective of GIL is higher earnings potential in male-dominated sectors. increasing take-up of effective Working Paper I Policy Brief policies by governments, development organizations and the private sector in order ADOLESCENT GIRLS’ CLUBS OFFERING LIFE SKILLS AND 3.  to address the underlying LIVELIHOOD TRAINING POSITIVELY IMPACTS GIRLS causes of gender inequality in Africa, particularly in terms Adolescent girls programs that combine life skills and vocational skills can help of women’s economic and improve the school-to-work transition of the large youth populations in the region, social empowerment. The lab while also reducing adolescent fertility. Our study of BRAC’s Empowerment and Livelihoods for Adolescents (ELA) program, indicates that ELA raised girls’ aims to do this by producing likelihood of engaging in income-generating activities by 72 % and raised their and delivering a new body of monthly consumption expenditures by 38%, while reducing teen pregnancy and evidence and developing a early marriage by 26 % and 58 % respectively. The program not only worked but compelling narrative, geared was also cost effective at $100 per girl per year. towards policymakers, on what Working Paper I Policy Brief works and what does not work in promoting gender equality. To learn more visit our website at: http://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/africa-gender-innovation-lab TRAINING WOMEN IN ICT CAN HELP OVERCOME 4.  THEIR OWN SELF-DEFEATING BIASES An evaluation of a job training program in Nigeria that sought to prepare university graduates for work in the ICT sector not only found that the training was successful for women and men, with successful applicants 26% more likely to work in the ICT sector two years after the training, but also indicated that such programs can be particularly useful for women who initially exhibit a bias against women’s professionalism - after the training, these women were three times more likely to find an IT job than unbiased women. Working Paper I Article M AKING IT EASIER FOR WOMEN TO FORMALIZE 5.  THEIR FIRMS PLUS WORKING WITH A BANK LEADS TO INCREASED ACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICES TAKING RESULTS TO SCALE Through an experiment in Malawi, we established an effective and replicable design Evidence from GIL studies have to offer informal firms support to formalize, costing much less than the typical private sector development intervention. Combining this business registration solution with an been used in the design of programs information session at a bank (including the offer of a business bank account) improved in Africa, Latin America and Asia. access to financial services: participating women entrepreneurs increased their use of A relatively small investment in bank accounts for business-only purposes, financial record keeping, and other financial research and evidence can yield services including insurance. They also saw a significant increase in their profits. lasting impacts on women and girls Working Paper I Policy Brief and can inform the design of large- scale policies and programs around POLICY PRIORITIES FOR CLOSING THE GENDER 6.  the world. GAP IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY Women farmers consistently produce less per hectare than their male counterparts. When comparing women and men with similar-sized plots in a similar context, the gender gaps range from 23% in Tanzania to a strikingly large 66% in Niger. The gender gap is caused by more than unequal access to inputs; women also face unequal returns to the inputs they have. Our research identifies the key drivers of the gender gap in individual countries and helps policymakers to prioritize the interventions, such as farmer field schools and price discounts on fertilizer, that are most likely to increase productivity and economic growth. Synthesis Report I Executive Summary NONCOGNITIVE SKILLS MATTER FOR THE ADOPTION 7.  OF CASH CROPS BY WOMEN FARMERS Inferential research shows a positive link between women farmers’ noncognitive entrepreneurial skills (such as perseverance, passion for work, and optimism) and their adoption of cash crops. Noncognitive skills work by encouraging women to make higher use of productive farm inputs, including labor, fertilizer, and agricultural extension services. Our results suggest that non-cognitive skills are a crucial and under-explored mechanism for boosting women’s agricultural productivity and policy interventions aimed at fostering noncognitive skills in farmers should be implemented and tested. Working Paper I Policy Brief FORMALIZING RURAL LAND RIGHTS CAN BOOST WOMEN’S 8.  FOR MORE INFORMATION, PRODUCTIVE INVESTMENTS ON THEIR PLOTS PLEASE CONTACT Women in Sub-Saharan Africa are less likely than men to own land, use less land, and Markus Goldstein have lower tenure security. These gaps are costly in terms of lost productive output. Early mgoldstein@worldbank.org results from a study in Benin show that improved tenure security through land demarcation increases long-term investments in cash crops and trees and erases the gender gap in land Rachel Coleman fallowing—a key soil fertility investment. rcoleman1@worldbank.org Working Paper I Policy Brief 1818 H. St NW This work has been funded by the Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality (UFGE), a World Bank Group multidonor trust fund Washington, DC 20433 USA expanding evidence, knowledge and data needed to identify and address key gaps between men and women to deliver better development solutions that boost prosperity and increase opportunity for all. The UFGE has received generous contributions from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.