WUNRN
Women produce between 60 and 80 percent of the food in most developing countries and are responsible for half of the world's food production, yet their key role as food producers and providers and their critical contribution to household food security is only now becoming recognized.
FAO studies confirm that while women are the mainstay of small-scale agriculture, farm labour force and day-to-day family subsistence, they have more difficulties than men in gaining access to resources such as land and credit and productivity enhancing inputs and services.
Food security, in fact, has been defined by FAO not only in terms of access to and availability of food, but also in terms of resource distribution to produce food and purchasing power to buy food where it is not produced. Given women's crucial role in food production and provision, any set of strategies for sustainable food security must address their limited access to productive resources.
Women's limited access to resources and their insufficient purchasing power are products of a series of interrelated social, economic and cultural factors that force them into a subordinate role, to the detriment of their own development and that of society as a whole.
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2010 Food Security Risk Index
- African nations,
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Aug. 19, 2010 - With global wheat prices
expected to spike following an export ban in Russia due to fires destroying
millions of hectares of crops, a new study measuring global food security has
identified the food supplies of Afghanistan and nine Africa states as the
countries which are most at risk and vulnerable to rising costs.
The
Food Security Risk Index 2010, released by risk analysis and rating firm
Maplecroft, evaluates the risks to the supply of basic food staples for 163
countries. It uses 12 criteria developed in collaboration with the World Food
Programme, to calculate the ranking including: the nutritional and health
status of populations, cereal production and imports, GDP per capita, natural
disasters, conflict, and the effectiveness of government.
Sub-Saharan
Africa is particularly vulnerable to food insecurity because of the frequency
of extreme weather events, high rates of poverty and failing infrastructures,
including road and telecommunications networks, which decrease both production
and distribution capacity. Conflict is also a major driver of food insecurity
and the ongoing violence in
"Russian
brakes on exports, plus a reduction in
Professor
Alyson Warhurst, CEO of Maplecroft adds "Food security is a critical
geopolitical issue and an important factor for investors concerned with
sovereign risk, food and agricultural business with respect to supply chain
integrity and foreign direct investments. The world will now look to
Climate
change is having a profound effect on global food security. The heat wave in
Russia (115 and medium risk) has come at the same time as devastating floods in
Pakistan, which will have long term effects on the country's food security
situation.
The
Food Security Risk Index is one component of Maplecroft's Resource Security
Series of indices, which also encompass, water security, energy security and a
combined index for overall resource security. These are developed by Maplecroft
to enable businesses and investors to identify risks in supply chains,
operations and investments, including sovereign bonds.