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Improving Policy Response to the Differentiated Impacts of High and Volatile Food Prices on Rural Women

Year of publication 2012

Author Ana Paula de la O Campos, Elisabeth Garner

Product type Book (stand-alone)

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) In a high and volatile food price setting, two aspects determine rural women’s ability to absorb and respond to shocks: the inequalities that create a gender gap in rural development and women’s traditional roles in society. This chapter points to these two aspects that in general terms reduce women’s ability to cope with food price volatility. Rural women, traditionally responsible for providing food and health in the household, face major constraints in fulfilling their roles, render ing them more vulnerable to food price spikes. Major recommendations include building on rural women’s resiliency and mitigating negative coping strategies by reducing gender inequalities in rural development and by providing safety-nets that are appropriately designed to address rural women’s needs and limitations. Gender gaps in rural development refer to those in access to resources; better paying jobs; infrastructure, public services, agricultural extension and technologies, and le vels of participation in farmers organizations and other public institutions. Better design in safety-nets and other social protection programs refer to including mechanisms that are culturally sensitive, reduce women’s time burden, and provide the necessary transportation, child care facilities, and other services and mechanisms that ensure their participation. Gender-transformative approaches in the implementation of policies and programs, including capacity development on gender rol es for the household as a whole, are essential for ending discrimination against women which constraint their economic and social empowerment. Additional areas of research include gender-differentiated impacts of high food prices and volatility, both at the individual and household levels, and the effectiveness of safety-nets and other social protection programs designed to address rural women-specific needs.

Language English

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    In a high and volatile food price setting, two aspects determine rural women’s ability to absorb and respond to shocks: the inequalities that create a gender gap in rural development and women’s traditional roles in society and the household. This discussion paper points to these two aspects that, in general terms, reduce women’s ability to cope with food price volatility. Rural women, traditionally responsible for providing food and health in the household, face major constraints in fulfilling their roles, rendering them more vulnerable to food price spikes. Major recommendations include building on rural women’s resiliency and mitigating negative coping strategies by reducing gender inequalities in rural development, and by providing safety nets that are appropriately designed to address rural women’s needs and limitations. Gender gaps in rural development refer to those in access to resources, better-paying jobs, infrastructure, public services, agricultural extension and technologies, as well as gaps in the levels of participation in farmers’ organizations and other public institutions. Better design in safety nets and other social protection programmes involves including mechanisms that are culturally sensitive, that reduce women’s time burden, and that provide the necessary transportation, child-care facilities, and other services and mechanisms to ensure their participation. Gender-transformative approaches in the implementation of p olicies and programmes, including capacity development on gender roles for the household as a whole, are essential for ending discrimination against women, which hinders their economic and social empowerment. Additional areas of research include gender-differentiated impacts of high food prices and volatility, both at the individual and household levels, and the effectiveness of safety nets and other social protection programmes designed to address rural women’s specific needs.
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    Document
    Price Volatility in Food and Agricultural Markets: A policy response 2011
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    Under the Food Security pillar of the Seoul Multi-year Action Plan on Development, the G20 “request that FAO, IFAD, IMF, OECD, UNCTAD, WFP, the World Bank and the WTO work with key stakeholders to develop options for G20 consideration on how to better mitigate and manage the risks associated with the price volatility of food and other agriculture commodities, without distorting market behaviour, ultimately to protect the most vulnerable”. This report has been prepared by FAO, IFAD, IMF, OECD, UN CTAD,WFP, the World Bank, the WTO, IFPRI and the UN HLTF. The approach taken in this report reflects the view of the collaborating international organisations that price volatility and its effects on food security is a complex issue with many dimensions, agricultural and non-agricultural, short and long-term, with highly differentiated impacts on consumers and producers in developed and developing countries. The report begins with a discussion of volatility and of the ways in which volatility af fects countries, businesses, consumers and farmers.
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