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.

This study interviewed 401 male/female individuals in farm households in Jhang and Bahawalpur district of Punjab, Pakistan in 2016.

Findings: Men and women farmers’ use and preferences in accessing information sources are extremely different. Women hardly use sources for agricultural information, and value interpersonal communication from informal sources. In contrast, men use and value official agencies more. Radio, surprisingly, was very rarely used, contradicting previous findings of research elsewhere. Age and literacy affect differences between women more than it does between men, particularly for convenient locations to access information. Practical implications The study identified and refined major gender differences regarding use and preference for agricultural information in relation to age and literacy, and helps to articulate options to improve gender equality of access to agricultural information in Pakistan.

Theoretical implications: The focus and outcomes regarding gender intersecting with age and literacy in agricultural information access imply the need for more refined socio-economic models, discerning and interrelating gender and other social dimensions beyond the standard of male-headed households.

Originality/value: This paper adds to the growing body of evidence on information access according to gender, highlighting the need to investigate deeper socio-cultural issues around age and literacy.

The food security situation in Pakistan has significantly worsened, mainly due to drought, floods, desert locust and conflict, which have triggered population displacements and reduced agricultural production.The number of people in need of food security and livelihoods assistance is projected to increase to over 6.1 million people in June 2021, making it critical to provide integrated agricultural support to vulnerable people devastated by multiple shocks.

This brief presents findings on agricultural wholesale markets in Pakistan and provides recommendations to help develop more efficient production and marketing systems.

The brief provides an overview of Pakistan’s agriculture sector and horticulture value chain, and of four agricultural wholesale markets in Lahore. It proposes ways of improving the management, maintenance, and accessibility of markets, and making the value chain more efficient.