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Women’s employment in agrifood systems

Background paper for The status of women in agrifood systems

Year of publication 2023

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 33 p.

Author Costa, V. ; Piedrahita, N.; Mane, E.; Davis, B.; Slavchevska, V.; Gurbuzer, Y.;

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Booklet

To cite or share https://doi.org/10.4060/cc9040en

Synopsis (short abstract) Tackling poverty and food insecurity requires research and policies that go beyond the agriculture sector and consider the entire agrifood system. Women play important roles in agrifood systems, but their work in the different segments of agrifood systems is poorly captured. This paper produces global and regional estimates of the share of working women and men employed in agrifood systems, differentiating between primary agricultural production and off-farm agrifood-system activities. It looks at the gender patterns of employment in the different activities of agrifood systems between 2005 and 2019 and at how these patterns changed during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study finds that, despite decreases in the share of working men and women employed in agrifood systems over the past 15 years, agrifood systems remain an important source of livelihood for both men and women, but especially for women in low- and middle-income countries. However, women’s working conditions tend to be more vulnerable than men’s in both agriculture and off-farm agrifood systems. The paper also highlights methodological issues around the measurement of women’s employment in agrifood systems, which can have important implications for the design of livelihoods interventions. Background paper to the FAO flagship The status of women in agrifood systems https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/CC5060EN .

Cite this content as:

Costa, V., Piedrahita, N., Mane, E., Davis, B., Slavchevska, V. & Gurbuzer, Y. 2023. Women’s employment in agrifood systems – Background paper for The status of women in agrifood systems. Rome, FAO.

https://doi.org/10.4060/cc9040en

Language English

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