Gender equality essential for food Security

(Restrictions on female land ownership, limited access to credit and farm advisory services, and a lack of education hamper women’s ability to produce and access more food and earn decent incomes due to which worldwide, around 60% of the undernourished people are females)

Highlights of the report titled Gender Equality and Food Security- Women’s Empowerment as a Tool against Hunger by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Food and Agriculture Association of the United Nations (FAO)

According to the report titled Gender Equality and Food Security- Women’s Empowerment as a Tool against Hunger by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Food and Agriculture Association of the United Nations (FAO), highlights that gender equality can contribute to food security and describes the relationship between gender-based discrimination and the different channels through which households and individuals access food. It also states that equality of treatment between women and men and food security are mutually supportive, gender equality remains an elusive goal in many regions, and a transformation of traditional gender roles is urgently needed.

Such a transformation can be enhanced with improved information about the range of inequalities and specific constraints facing women. A simultaneous and integrated pursuit of such information and transformation is essential for gender equality strategies and food security strategies to complement each other and maximize their synergy.

The food price crisis in particular may have a negative impact on human development by increasing poverty and inequality; worsening nutrition as families shift to diets less diverse and with lower micronutrient content; reducing the utilization of education and health services; and depleting the productive assets of the poor.

Food security and hunger eradication are among the top priorities on the international agenda today in view of the impact on agricultural productivity of global economic crises, food price spikes, and climate change. The extent to which gender inequalities in general, and the gender gaps in agriculture in particular, thwart attainment of these twin priority goals is a key concern given the vital role of women smallholders in household and community food and nutrition security.

Across the Asia and Pacific region, rural women assume critical roles in attaining each of the pillars of food security: availability, access, and utilization. Their role is thus crucial throughout the agricultural value chain, from production on the family plot, to food preparation, to distribution within the household. However, their roles are generally undervalued and constrained by limitations on their access to resources, services, and labor market opportunities. Most rural households and communities in the region manage their agricultural production systems based on social norms and practices that determine the gender division of labor. In addition, poor education and health indicators for women limit their access to resources and opportunities.

Women are increasingly important as farmers and livestock herders as a result of the agrarian transition and its gendered nature. Their autonomy as food producers, however, is usually very limited by the significant obstacles they face in accessing land, financial services, extension services, and markets, and in benefiting from agricultural research and development. Removal of these obstacles through gender-sensitive approaches would result in significant productivity gains benefiting not only the women concerned, but their households, communities, and society as a whole

Worldwide, around 60% of undernourished people are women or girls and hence it calls for a concerted effort against gender discrimination in access to food being given global priority. Malnutritionalso affects the women concerned. However, they also have grave repercussions for their families and households, and on the next generation. In 2008, maternal undernutrition affected more than one-fifth of women in south central and southeastern Asia, and more than two-fifths of women in India and Bangladesh

Worldwide, there are strong regional differences in the extent of discrimination against women and girls. Within Asia and the Pacific, South Asia lags in eliminating such  discrimination and in ensuring that women can participate, on an equal footing with men, in decision making

Cycle of gender discrimination

                                                                                                Source: ADB

There is a mutually reinforcing relationship between expanding social and economic opportunities for women. This is particularly true of improving women’s access to education, and strengthening their role in decision making within the household and within society. Greater economic autonomy improves the bargaining position of women within the household and increases their voice in public decision making.  Empowerment, in turn, can accelerate the elimination of obstacles to expansion of their opportunities for self-employement and in the labor market. The need for deepening gender mainstreaming and for direct investments in women and girls to close remaining gender gaps and achieve better gender equality outcomes. Investments are needed in women’s and girls’ education, health, and economic empowerment, as well as in public transport facilities, better water services, and clean energy sources especially in rural areas.

Warm Regards,

Dr. S P Sharma