Generating Resilience and Opportunities for Women (GROW) is a new USAID commitment to tackle urgent challenges facing women in food and water systems, including climate change, while unlocking opportunities for women to advance economically — ultimately benefiting their families, communities and societies at large through improved food security, resilience and economic growth. 

Subject to the availability of funds and Congressional notification, GROW will specifically focus on women’s empowerment in the food and water sectors and invest up to $335 million through the U.S. government’s Feed the Future initiative led by USAID and through USAID’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) and Adaptation activities. This commitment will enable USAID to deepen and scale its programming to reach, benefit and empower more women around the world as they, their families and their communities face worsening climate-driven disasters and food security crises.

GROW will advance women’s empowerment across the following three priority areas, in close collaboration with country governments, implementing partners, and local communities:

• Increase women producers’ productivity and resilience to shocks; 
• Support women to fully participate in and benefit from more diversified and climate-resilient economic opportunities in food and water systems — including in value chains beyond production; and
• Drive the humanitarian system to prioritize addressing the unique needs of women and girls affected by climate and food-security crises. 

Across these priority areas, GROW will address the systemic barriers to women’s participation in and benefit from food and water systems. It will do so by supporting innovative and transformative programming to eliminate discriminatory norms, policies and practices that create and reinforce gender inequalities in households and communities.