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Achieving gender equality by empowering women in agrifood systems

Year of publication 2023

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 2p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

Synopsis (short abstract) Despite their critical role in agrifood systems, millions of rural women face significant challenges to access resources, information, services and opportunities. They cope with excessive work burden and are underrepresented in institutions and decision-making processes. Moreover, they experience higher rates of food insecurity and are disproportionately affected by health, economic and environmental crises. Closing the gender gap in farm productivity and the wage gap in agrifood systems employment would increase global gross domestic product by 1 percent. This would reduce global food insecurity by about 2 percentage points, reducing the number of food insecure people by 45 million. FAO has extensive expertise in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in agrifood systems and rural development to eliminate poverty and promote inclusive rural transformation for a better life.

Last updated 06/06/2023

Language English

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    Women face a higher prevalence of food insecurity than do men, both on a global scale and across all regions. This paper delves into the global determinants contributing to the gender gap in food insecurity and explores how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced its trajectory. Additionally, it estimates the impact of improvements in food security and incomes possible if gender gaps on farm productivity and wages were closed. Utilizing data from the Food Insecurity Experience Scale gathered from over 700 000 individuals across 121 countries, this study reveals that individuals aged 25–34 years, irrespective of their gender, and women residing in rural areas have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. The econometric model allows the authors to estimate the elasticities of food security to income, which they then use to simulate the potential macrolevel benefits for the economy and food security if we were to eliminate the gender gaps in farm productivity and wages within agrifood systems. The findings suggest that addressing these disparities could result in an approximate USD 1 trillion increase in global gross domestic product and lift approximately 45 million people out of food insecurity. Additionally, the authors estimate that eliminating these gender disparities could reduce the current gap in food insecurity between women and men by at least 57 percent. This background paper was prepared to inform Chapters 1 and 6 of FAO’s report on The status of women in agrifood systems.
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    Rural women, who make up a significant proportion of the world's poorest, face compounded challenges due to gender-based discrimination. Particularly, in Africa and Asia, women disproportionately bear the burden of food insecurity and have limited access to resources, services and opportunities, a situation further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Prioritizing gender equality in agriculture is essential to effectively address these challenges. Key barriers are faced by rural women at various levels, including the policy, institutional and community levels. Additionally, socio-cultural norms perpetuate gender inequalities by restricting women's mobility and economic opportunities. Recognizing the need to challenge these norms and address the barriers to unleash the economic potential of rural women, the subprogramme focused on expanding women’s socio-economic opportunities by combining gender responsive and transformative interventions in four countries that exhibit pronounced gender inequalities in agriculture: Cambodia, Kenya, Senegal and Uganda. In addition, the gender transformative approach of the Dimitra Clubs (DCs) was integrated in 62 projects of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in ten additional Least Developed Countries.
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