Cross-cutting themes are topics that play a role in research on a variety of topics and disciplines. Cross-cutting themes that often play a role in research on agriculture, food systems, nutrition, and health are gender, equity, and climate change, among others. It is also important to consider the intersections between different research themes and types of identity and equity. 

Gender

• Why should we consider gender in research on agriculture, food systems, nutrition, and health?
  • Gender-differentiated Statistics and Indicators: This brief from the German government discusses the importance of gender disaggregated data for monitoring progress in development.
  • Gender Data and the Sustainable Development Goals: This brief discusses the importance of high-quality gender-disaggregated data for strengthening economies and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Gender Data Module: This learning module from the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (Data4SDGs) discusses the importance of gender-disaggregated data for creating policy, gaps in gender data, and indicators for monitoring gender in the Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Gender Equality and Big Data: This report from UN Women discusses the value of big data for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals related to gender equality.
  • Statistics and Gender Considerations: This chapter from the FAO discusses the importance of gender in agricultural statistics.
• Finding data related to gender
  • OECD Gender Data Portal: This portal highlights indicators related to gender inequalities in OECD and partner countries.
  • The World Bank Gender Data Portal: This portal provides access to sex-disaggregated data and gender-related statistics from the World Bank.
• Resources for incorporating gender in data analysis
  • Gender Analysis Guidelines: This document defines key concepts in gender research and provides guidelines for conducting gender analysis.
  • Gender Analysis Toolkit for Health Systems: This toolkit from Jhpiego provides practical guidance for integrating gender in research and analysis.
  • IFPRI Gender Tool Box: This collection of resources includes guidance for collecting and analyzing gender-disaggregated data; toolkits for gender research; and links to gender-related datasets, data repositories, and publications.
  • Methodological Guidelines for Gender Analysis of National Population and Housing Census Data: This guide from the United Nations Population Fund provides detailed instructions for gender analysis of national census data, including explanations of related concepts and key gender issues

Climate change

• Why should we consider climate change in research on agriculture, food systems, nutrition, and health?
  • Climate and Food Security Analyses: This web page from WFP discusses the impacts of climate change on food security and showcases WFP’s research related to climate change.
  • Climate Change and Health: This web page from WHO discusses the impacts of climate change on health and who experiences these impacts.
  • Climate-Smart Agriculture: This website from the World Bank discusses climate-smart agriculture and how it can address food security and climate change.
  • IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land: This IPCC Special Report discusses climate change, land, and food security. For a shorter version, read the Summary for Policymakers.
  • FAO on Climate Change: This web page discusses the impacts of climate change on food security and development and highlights FAO’s work on climate change.
• Finding data related to climate change
  • FAO Climate Change Data & Tools: This web page contains links to data and tools from FAO’s research on agriculture and climate change.
• Resources for incorporating climate change in data analysis
  • A Big Data Guide to Understanding Climate Change: This article discusses the challenges and opportunities in analysis of large climate databases.
  • Foundations for the Statistical Analysis of Climate Change: This article describes the basics of quantifying the impacts of climate change, including sample Python code and visualizations.
  • Gender, Climate Change, and Nutrition Integration Initiative (GCAN): This initiative, led by the International Food Policy Research Institute, has created a framework for linking climate, gender, and nutrition at multiple scales, along with a variety of related research tools.
  • Guide to Climate and Food Security Analyses: This guide from WFP describes considerations for designing climate change adaptation interventions and how to conduct different types of climate analyses.

Intersectionality

• What is intersectionality and why should we incorporate it in research on agriculture, food systems, nutrition, and health?
  • Intersectionality is the concept that multiple aspects of a person's or group's identities combine to influence their identity, as well as inequalities.
  • People are often marginalized in multiple ways - for instance, related to their gender, age, ethnicity, disability, location, or other aspects of identity - and research and interventions should consider and incorporate these overlapping inequities. 
• Resources for incorporating intersectionality in research and data analysis
  • Advancing quantitative intersectionality research methods: This article explores existing frameworks for incorporating intersectionality in quantitative research. 
  • Beyond women and youth: applying intersectionality in agriculture research and development: This article explores the utility of intersectionality in agricultural development research. 
  • Incorporating intersectionality theory into population health research methodology: This article discusses intersectional approaches to studying health outcomes.
  • Intersectionality in addressing equity in agriculture, nutrition and health: This brief discusses the importance of equity in ANH research and presents a framework for better understanding equity. 
  • Intersectionality in quantitative research: This article is a systematic review of statistical methods for intersectional research.