This post was written by Jay Gilliam, USAID senior LGBTQI+ coordinator.

This month on Agrilinks, I am pleased to collaborate with USAID’s Center for Agriculture and highlight promising practices to ensure that agricultural and food security programs reach and serve lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) people and all people with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC).

Inclusive and sustainable development requires intentional and proactive efforts to ensure that the most marginalized people are active participants in shaping the future of their communities.

USAID has supported efforts to advance the human rights and social inclusion of LGBTQI+ people for decades. In 2014, USAID released the LGBT Vision for Action, which articulates an approach that relies on the principles of “do no harm” and “nothing about us without us.” In the first weeks of the administration, President Biden released the Presidential Memorandum on advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons around the world — the second presidential memorandum of its kind.

Last year, USAID’s Inclusive Development Hub and Bureau for Resilience and Food Security released sectoral guidance to share approaches that can be used to integrate LGBTQI+ considerations into food security, agriculture and resilience programs. It highlights best practices and programmatic examples from USAID Missions around the world.

Due to widespread discrimination, stigma and criminalization, LGBTQI+ people may be excluded from family and social support networks, minimizing their opportunities to inherit land, access credit or participate equally in agricultural growth and development programming. This is particularly concerning given the higher vulnerability to food insecurity that LGBTQI+ persons face, again, due to being shut out from social protection programs and other income-generating activities.

Another key challenge facing development practitioners in the sector is the dearth of comprehensive, comparable and disaggregated data sets that illuminate the needs of people with diverse SOGIESC. Specifically, the sector guidance underscores, “Development partners may overlook LGBTQI+ concerns due to unease, bias, lack of knowledge and/or uncertainty of the protocols to address issues relevant to sexual orientation, gender identity and expression across different cultural contexts.” Safely collecting and storing disaggregated data poses unique challenges, but it is possible when done in thoughtful consultation with LGBTQI+-led organizations.

Fortunately, LGBTQI+ activists and organizations around the world have been creatively addressing these realities by providing mentorship and guidance, supporting one another and developing new initiatives that build the capacity of communities to support agricultural growth.

In September, USAID’s Inclusive Development Hub LGBTQI+ portfolio and Agrilinks will delve deeper into this topic and host a webinar with experts on Wednesday, September 28, 2022 REGISTER HERE. Join us!