In many countries, the inability of women to negotiate pervasive social, legal, and cultural barriers inhibits their participation in the productive sphere, particularly their entry into market systems as producers and entrepreneurs. The paper draws on case studies from projects implemented by the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) in Ghana, the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Institute (ECDI) in Pakistan, and Zardozi in Afghanistan to show how practitioners can maximize ‘push’ and ‘pull’ strategies to increase the scale, impact, and sustainability of women's economic empowerment programming. Despite differences in country contexts, value chains, and sectors, the authors illustrate the importance of ‘push’ strategies in helping women to overcome the persistent gender-based discrimination that undermines women's understanding of markets, access to networks, self-confidence, and business success. They also show how deliberate ‘pull’ strategies that use commercially based incentives can increase women's incomes and business sustainability. The authors conclude that a blend of push and pull strategies will provide the most reach and impact for women's economic empowerment projects, ensuring income growth and gender equality dividends for families and communities.

De Santos, A. (2013) Women's Entrepreneurship Diagnostic, Washington, DC: USAID.

Ghana Ministry of Food and Agriculture (2004) Gender and Agricultural Development Strategy, Accra, Ghana: Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Goldman Sachs and JBWere Investment Research (2009) Australia's Hidden Resource: The Economic Case for Increasing Female Participation, Sydney, Australia: Goldman Sachs and JBWere Investment Research.

Golla, A., Malhotra, A., Nanda, P., and Mehra, R. (2011) Understanding and Measuring Women's Economic Empowerment: Definition, Framework and Indicators, Washington, DC: International Centre for Research on Women.

Innovative Development Strategies (Pvt.) Ltd (2014) Performance Evaluation Impact Assessment: Pakistan Entrepreneurs Project [online], Islamabad, Pakistan, May 2014 <www.meda.org/impactassessment-report/file≯ [accessed 1 February 2015]. www.meda.org/impactassessment-report/file

Jones, L. (2012) Discussion Paper for an M4P WEE Framework: How can the Making Markets Work for the Poor Framework work for poor women and for poor men? Durham, UK: Springfield Centre.

Kabeer, N., Mahmud, S., and Tasneem, S. (2011) Does Paid Work Provide a Pathway to Women's Empowerment? Empirical Findings from Bangladesh, IDS Working Paper 375, Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies.

Markel, E., and Jones, L. (2014) Women's Economic Empowerment: Pushing the Frontiers of Inclusive Market Development [pdf] <https://www.microlinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/files/WEE_in_Market_Systems_Framework_final.pdf≯ [accessed 27 January 2015]. https://www.microlinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/files/WEE_in_Market_Systems_Framework_final.pdf

SEEP Network (2014) ‘USAID calls for practitioner learning from push/pull and inclusive market development’ [blog] <www.seepnetwork.org/blog/LEO-call-project-examples-inclusivemarket-development-2≯ [accessed 27 January 2015]. www.seepnetwork.org/blog/LEO-call-project-examples-inclusivemarket-development-2

De Santos, A. (2013) Women's Entrepreneurship Diagnostic, Washington, DC: USAID.

Ghana Ministry of Food and Agriculture (2004) Gender and Agricultural Development Strategy, Accra, Ghana: Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Goldman Sachs and JBWere Investment Research (2009) Australia's Hidden Resource: The Economic Case for Increasing Female Participation, Sydney, Australia: Goldman Sachs and JBWere Investment Research.

Golla, A., Malhotra, A., Nanda, P., and Mehra, R. (2011) Understanding and Measuring Women's Economic Empowerment: Definition, Framework and Indicators, Washington, DC: International Centre for Research on Women.

Innovative Development Strategies (Pvt.) Ltd (2014) Performance Evaluation Impact Assessment: Pakistan Entrepreneurs Project [online], Islamabad, Pakistan, May 2014 <www.meda.org/impactassessment-report/file≯ [accessed 1 February 2015]. www.meda.org/impactassessment-report/file

Jones, L. (2012) Discussion Paper for an M4P WEE Framework: How can the Making Markets Work for the Poor Framework work for poor women and for poor men? Durham, UK: Springfield Centre.

Kabeer, N., Mahmud, S., and Tasneem, S. (2011) Does Paid Work Provide a Pathway to Women's Empowerment? Empirical Findings from Bangladesh, IDS Working Paper 375, Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies.

Markel, E., and Jones, L. (2014) Women's Economic Empowerment: Pushing the Frontiers of Inclusive Market Development [pdf] <https://www.microlinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/files/WEE_in_Market_Systems_Framework_final.pdf≯ [accessed 27 January 2015]. https://www.microlinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/files/WEE_in_Market_Systems_Framework_final.pdf

SEEP Network (2014) ‘USAID calls for practitioner learning from push/pull and inclusive market development’ [blog] <www.seepnetwork.org/blog/LEO-call-project-examples-inclusivemarket-development-2≯ [accessed 27 January 2015]. www.seepnetwork.org/blog/LEO-call-project-examples-inclusivemarket-development-2

De Santos, A. (2013) Women's Entrepreneurship Diagnostic, Washington, DC: USAID.

Ghana Ministry of Food and Agriculture (2004) Gender and Agricultural Development Strategy, Accra, Ghana: Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Goldman Sachs and JBWere Investment Research (2009) Australia's Hidden Resource: The Economic Case for Increasing Female Participation, Sydney, Australia: Goldman Sachs and JBWere Investment Research.

Golla, A., Malhotra, A., Nanda, P., and Mehra, R. (2011) Understanding and Measuring Women's Economic Empowerment: Definition, Framework and Indicators, Washington, DC: International Centre for Research on Women.

Innovative Development Strategies (Pvt.) Ltd (2014) Performance Evaluation Impact Assessment: Pakistan Entrepreneurs Project [online], Islamabad, Pakistan, May 2014 <www.meda.org/impactassessment-report/file≯ [accessed 1 February 2015]. www.meda.org/impactassessment-report/file

Jones, L. (2012) Discussion Paper for an M4P WEE Framework: How can the Making Markets Work for the Poor Framework work for poor women and for poor men? Durham, UK: Springfield Centre.

Kabeer, N., Mahmud, S., and Tasneem, S. (2011) Does Paid Work Provide a Pathway to Women's Empowerment? Empirical Findings from Bangladesh, IDS Working Paper 375, Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies.

Markel, E., and Jones, L. (2014) Women's Economic Empowerment: Pushing the Frontiers of Inclusive Market Development [pdf] <https://www.microlinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/files/WEE_in_Market_Systems_Framework_final.pdf≯ [accessed 27 January 2015]. https://www.microlinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/files/WEE_in_Market_Systems_Framework_final.pdf

SEEP Network (2014) ‘USAID calls for practitioner learning from push/pull and inclusive market development’ [blog] <www.seepnetwork.org/blog/LEO-call-project-examples-inclusivemarket-development-2≯ [accessed 27 January 2015]. www.seepnetwork.org/blog/LEO-call-project-examples-inclusivemarket-development-2

De Santos, A. (2013) Women's Entrepreneurship Diagnostic, Washington, DC: USAID.

Ghana Ministry of Food and Agriculture (2004) Gender and Agricultural Development Strategy, Accra, Ghana: Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Goldman Sachs and JBWere Investment Research (2009) Australia's Hidden Resource: The Economic Case for Increasing Female Participation, Sydney, Australia: Goldman Sachs and JBWere Investment Research.

Golla, A., Malhotra, A., Nanda, P., and Mehra, R. (2011) Understanding and Measuring Women's Economic Empowerment: Definition, Framework and Indicators, Washington, DC: International Centre for Research on Women.

Innovative Development Strategies (Pvt.) Ltd (2014) Performance Evaluation Impact Assessment: Pakistan Entrepreneurs Project [online], Islamabad, Pakistan, May 2014 <www.meda.org/impactassessment-report/file≯ [accessed 1 February 2015]. www.meda.org/impactassessment-report/file

Jones, L. (2012) Discussion Paper for an M4P WEE Framework: How can the Making Markets Work for the Poor Framework work for poor women and for poor men? Durham, UK: Springfield Centre.

Kabeer, N., Mahmud, S., and Tasneem, S. (2011) Does Paid Work Provide a Pathway to Women's Empowerment? Empirical Findings from Bangladesh, IDS Working Paper 375, Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies.

Markel, E., and Jones, L. (2014) Women's Economic Empowerment: Pushing the Frontiers of Inclusive Market Development [pdf] <https://www.microlinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/files/WEE_in_Market_Systems_Framework_final.pdf≯ [accessed 27 January 2015]. https://www.microlinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/files/WEE_in_Market_Systems_Framework_final.pdf

SEEP Network (2014) ‘USAID calls for practitioner learning from push/pull and inclusive market development’ [blog] <www.seepnetwork.org/blog/LEO-call-project-examples-inclusivemarket-development-2≯ [accessed 27 January 2015]. www.seepnetwork.org/blog/LEO-call-project-examples-inclusivemarket-development-2