WUNRN
Support Female
Farmers for a Less Hungry World
- August 19, 2014
Women are the backbone of farming. Across the
planet, women and girl farmers play a big role in changing the food system and
creating a well-nourished world. In fact, approximately 70 percent of
all farmers in the developing world are women. In poor and rich nations alike, they are taking on more
defined roles in food and agriculture.
Food Tank and the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) produced this new video highlighting how meeting the needs of women farmers
equals a better world.
If access to new technology and resources is made available to
women farmers, yields could increase by 20 to 30 percent and could reduce the
number of hungry people in world by 100 to 150 million people. When women have
the right tools, they have limitless potential.
According to the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF), “healthy, educated, and
empowered women are more likely to have healthy, educated, and confident
children.”
Yet, while women are responsible
for the majority of food production, they are also more likely to suffer from
hunger during food shortages. Addressing the deep-rooted
inequalities that currently prevent women from gaining equal access to tools
and resources will level the playing field and help close the gender gap.
More on women in agriculture:
According to Landesa, when women farmers have secure land rights,
family nutrition improves; women become less vulnerable to contracting
HIV/AIDS; and children, especially girls, are more likely to stay in school
longer.
In 2012, GFAR brought together women from more than 50 countries at the First
Global Conference of Women in Agriculture to highlight the importance of
reducing the gender gap in agriculture.
According to GFAR, women represent 43 percent of the world’s
agricultural labor force and 47 percent of the global fisheries labor force.
The World Bank’s World Development Report 2012 stresses that gender
equality can lead to increased productivity; women’s control of
household resources can improve the livelihoods of the next generation; and
empowering women as economic, social, and political actors can result in more
representative decision-making.
Jal Kanya Women Farmers Group in the Dhankuta district of India started a
monthly savings group, and they now have nearly US$1,000 in funds, which they
use to make loans to members.
According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), female farmers
produce less than male farmers, but not because they are less efficient;
instead, evidence shows that the difference is caused by access to
inputs. If women had the same access to resources as men, they
could raise total agricultural production in developing countries by 2.5 to 4
percent. Gains of this magnitude could reduce the number of hungry
people in the world by 12 to 17 percent!
More investment in women farmers will help alleviate hunger and poverty and
will lead to more social justice and empowerment for girls and women. When women earn
more, they invest more in the health of their families, thus ensuring vibrant,
well-nourished, and happy future generations.
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