Agriculture and Rural Development

This paper aims to make a case for a more gender-equitable agricultural research and development system. It reviews evidence on whether women are factored into research institutions, and whether research institutions effectively focused on needs of women, i.e. research BY and FOR women.

This is a quick guide that outlines the gender dimensions of each strategic objective, and FAO action to achieve gender equity in agriculture and rural development. Mainstreaming gender equity has become a strategic objective, of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publication by Cathy Farnworth and Jessica Hutchings. Gender relationships are fundamental worldwide to the way farm work is organised, the way assets such as land, labour, seeds and machinery are managed, and to farm decision-making. Given this, the lack of adequate attention to gender issues within the organic and sustainable farming movements is worrying. The revolutionary potential of sustainable approaches to farming to reshape our food systems, and the way humans interact with those systems, will not be realized unless there is a concerted effort by committed sustainable farmers and consumers to work towards gender equality. Indeed, the question addressed by this paper can be turned on its head. As well as asking how participation in organic and sustainable farming can empower women, we can ask: How does the participation of women broaden and deepen the multiple goals of organic and sustainable farming?

The Agricultural Development strategy identifies the participation of smallholder farmers as a critical feature of our ultimate success. Women comprise the vast majority of smallholder farmers and food producers. We recognize that in most areas in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia women are afforded less status than men, have less access to resources, and have greater responsibilities given their dual reproductive and productive roles in rural households. It is our belief that to achieve dramatic and sustainable improvements in the lives and wellbeing of the smallholder farmers our initiatives must offer innovative approaches to development challenges that engage, empower and invest in women for the long term.

Women play a critical role in agriculture throughout the world, producing, processing and providing the food we eat. Rural women are responsible for over half of the world's food production, producing around 70 percent of the food in most developing countries. Yet, despite their contribution to global food security, women farmers are frequently underestimated and overlooked in development strategies. Rural women are the main producers of the world's staple crops - rice, wheat, maize - which provide up to 90 percent of the rural poor's food intake. They are also the holders of vast indigenous knowledge about seeds, genetic diversity, food from forest plants, etc.

Developed by the International Federation of Agriculture Producers (IFAP) Farming First provides a call-to-action for policy-makers and practitioners to develop a local sustainable value chain for global agriculture.