Women in agriculture: Closing the gender gap for development

In March 2011 FAO released a new edition of its flagship report The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA). This year's SOFA focuses on the role of women in agriculture. It reveals how the agriculture sector is underperforming in many developing countries due to a wide gender gap and how tackling the problem can boost food production and reduce the number of hungry people by 100-150 million. FAO Norden, The Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry and the Swedish FAO Committee now arrange a seminar on this topic.

Date: Thursday 19th of May 2011, 09.00-12.15 hrs
Venue: Kungl. Skogs- och Lantbruksakademien, Drottninggatan 95 B, Stockholm
Registration: Will be open until 17th of May, please click here.
Moderator: Christina Engfeldt, former Director of Information, FAO
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Programme:

09.00 Registration and coffee
09.30 Welcome
Åke Barklund, Secretary General, Managing Director of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry
09.35 Swedish policy for bridging the gender gap
Magnus Kindbom, State Secretary, Ministry of Rural Affairs, Chair of the Swedish FAO Committee
09.50 Presentation of the report
Dr. Eve L. Crowley, Deputy Director of the Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division, FAO
10.30 Women in agriculture in Mozambique - a case study
Lena Widefjäll, graduate student, Mälardalen University
10.45 Break
10.55 Land tenure and women
Lasse Krantz, Coordinator for land rights issues, Sida
11.10 Overcoming Gender Barriers in Agricultural Development: Future Action
Melinda Fones-Sundell, Agricultural Economist, Senior Research Fellow, Project Coordinator SIANI
11.25 Panel discussion
Can agricultural policies and programmes close the gender gap?
12.15 Lunch

Welcome!

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FAO´s The State of Food and Agriculture 2010-11
Women in agriculture: Closing the gender gap for development

The FAO State of Food and Agriculture report, SOFA 2010-11, states that if women had equal access to land, technology, financial services, education and market as men, the number of hungry people worldwide could be reduced by 12-17 percent or with 100-150 million people from today's 925 million hungry.

Women make up half, and often the majority, of the agricultural labor force in developing countries. The proportion varies from 20 percent in Latin America to nearly 50 percent in East and Southeast Asia. In many countries in Africa, women constitute the majority of the workforce in agriculture.

The report shows lack of equality in access to a wide range of agricultural resources. For developing countries where data is available, for example, only 3-20 percent of all landowners are women. In addition, women generally have a greater workload, they have less access to credit and they do not have the same opportunities for education and extension services.

According to the report, yields on plots managed by women are lower than those managed by men, but if women had equal access to inputs and extension services as men, the total agricultural production could increase. It would also put more incomes in the hands of women, which is a proven strategy for improving health, nutrition and education outcomes for children.

Investments in agriculture have declined since the 1970s. SOFA shows that a renewed focus on agricultural investments and assistance aimed at strengthening the role of women in agriculture would have a clear positive effect in reducing hunger and increasing growth in the concerned countries.

To read the full report, click here.