Gender inequalities in food and agriculture cost the world $1 trillion: FAO

More than a third of the world’s working women are employed in agricultural sectors, which include the production of food and non-food agricultural products, and related activities from food storage, transportation and processing to distribution. .

But in a new report, The FAO says that gender inequalities such as women’s lower access to knowledge and resources, and a higher unpaid care burden, account for the 24 per cent gap in productivity between women and men farmers on the farm of equal size.

According to the FAO, closing the gender gap in farm production and the wage gap in agriculture would “increase the gross domestic product by almost $1 trillion and reduce the number of food insecure people by 45 million”, at a time when hunger is grow in the world. .

A farmer from a women’s vegetable cooperative grows cabbages in Sierra Leone.

Structural inequalities

The report shows that women’s access to land, jobs, credit and digital technology lags behind men, while the high burden of unpaid care hinders their opportunities for education , training and work. FAO points out that discriminatory social norms contribute to gender barriers to knowledge, resources and social networks – preventing women from making an equal contribution in the agriculture sector.

The report said that “In many countries there is still much to be done to ensure that women have land in equal measure to men and that legal frameworks protect their rights”, the report said. Its authors describe as “shocking” the slow pace of change in terms of women farmers’ access to livestock ownership and essential items such as irrigation and fertilizers.

The report also notes that in aging systems, “women’s roles are often marginalized and their working conditions may be worse than those of men – irregular, irregular, part-time, low-skilled, or laborious”.

Promote development, prevent hunger

The UN argues that “the challenges to women are full and equal

employment in informal systems sustains their productivity and sustains income gaps”.

According to the report, creating a level playing field in terms of farm production and agricultural wages would add one percent to the world’s gross domestic product, or nearly $1 trillion, and reduce food insecurity by two points. percent, benefiting 45 million people.

This is a remarkable prediction at a time when world hunger is increasing. The World Food Program of the United Nations (WFP) estimates that more than 345 people worldwide face critical levels of food insecurity this year, an increase of almost 200 million since the beginning of 2020. Of these, 43 million are a step out of hunger.

Untapped potential

The authors of the report also show that agricultural activities that empower women have significant economic and social benefits.

According to the FAO, “if half of the small producers benefit from development initiatives focused on the empowerment of women, it will significantly increase the incomes of 58 million additional people and increase the security of an additional 235 million”.

The extent of women’s employment in planning systems in some developing countries points to the potential impact that gender-enhancing interventions can have. For example, in South Asia, 71 percent of all working women are employed in the sector (compared to 47 percent of men).

‘Make noise programs work for women’

FAO points out that monitoring and improving progress on gender equality in agricultural systems depends on “the collection and use of high-quality data, disaggregated by sex, age and other forms of social and economic differentiation.” economics”, which is currently lacking, as well as rigorous gender research.

On the policy level, the report’s authors recommend urgent action to “close the gaps related to access to assets, technology and resources”. They said that improving women’s productivity in the agricultural sector requires interventions which “take care of caregiving and unpaid housework burdens, provide education and training, and strengthen land security”.

FAO also advocates for social protection programs which “have been shown to increase women’s employment and resilience”. Indeed, the UN agency’s research emphasizes that “when economies shrink, women’s jobs go first”, as was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Women have always worked in planning systems. It is time we make agrifood systems work for women,” Mr. Qu said in his foreword to the report.