By Kefiloe Kajane
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the African Union this week launched a report called Leaving no one behind: A Regional Outlook on Gender and Agrifood Systems, which says agrifood systems cannot be transformed unless there is gender equality.
The report was launched by FAO director-general QU Dongyu and African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Josefa Sacko at the 31st Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Africa.
Speaking at the launch, United Nations deputy secretary general Amina Mohammed said rural women are the pillars of food systems and agents of change for food security and climate justice.
She indicated that they’re also disproportionately affected by poverty, inequality, exclusion and the effects of climate change.
“This excellent report will make an important contribution to the (2021 UN) Food Systems Summit and to policies and strategies that empower rural women and girls in Africa,” she said.
Based on a review of 40 country gender assessments of agriculture and rural livelihoods, the report provides an in-depth review of the challenges and best practices to empower women in priority areas of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the Malabo Declaration.
The report makes recommendations to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, including:
Developing gender-sensitive and gender-targeted activities in food security, nutrition, and resilience. For example, programs that deliver money to beneficiaries through mobile phones help close gender gaps by overcoming mobility constraints and decreasing reliance on official documentation that women may find difficult to obtain.
Scaling up female entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment in agribusiness. Several countries have set up specific funds for women-owned agribusinesses. For example, the Imbita Eswatini Women’s Finance Trust provides microloans for rural women with no collateral requirements and no requirement for a husband’s approval.
In Africa, women are the backbone of their households, communities and rural economies, as food producers, processors, and marketers. They usually lead nutrition decisions for the family.
The dramatic effects of climate change coupled with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic mean women face multiple challenges. The number of people suffering from hunger is rising, and women are more likely than men to be food insecure.
Improving women’s status and harnessing their potential as “food heroes” will be critical to ending hunger in Africa, the report argues.
The President of the Pan-African Farmers Organization (PAFO) Elizabeth Nsimadala agrees. She urged greater partnerships to address inequality.
“In Africa, inequalities between women and men are among the greatest in the world. Together, we can improve the status of rural women,” she said.
Women often have only tenuous access to land – farming with short-term agreements from family or traditional authorities. These fragile rights can disappear overnight, preventing women from planning ahead or engaging in long term conservation farming.
