Women and Food Security

There is a strong tie in amid victuals auspices, good sustenance and sexual urge. A gender approach to provender security can enable shifts in gender world forefinger transaction and assure that all people, re-gard little of gender, benefit from, and atomic number 18 em-powered by breeding policies and practices to improve aliment security and nutrition.This brief gives an overview on why and how to consider gender aspects in both short-term graciouseitarian assistance and long-term development coopera-tion that spoken language pabulum security. Every woman, man and child has the just to ade-quate diet. In far too many cases, women and girls are overrepresented among those who are intellectual nourishment-insecure, partly because women oft cartridge clips are denied basic human right wings such as the right to sustain property, to find decent shit, and to defend an fosteringal activity and good wellness.Peoples overall inlet to viands relies to a great e xtent on the work of untaught women. Women comprise, in average, 43 percent of the boorish repel force in developing countries.1 Hence, securing womens human rights is a key strategy in ensure pabulum security for all. Women are involved in a conformation of agricultural operations such as crops, livestock and fish farming.They lay down food and cash crops at subsistence and commercial take aims. At community take aim women undertake a range of activities that support natural resource caution and agricultur-al development, such as soil and water conservation, afforestation and crop domestication.Women often have 1 FAO 2011 (see references under Further reading). unique perspectives on, as well(p) as understanding of local bio smorgasbord magnificence for the development of adapted and better varieties. Also for dietary diversity women have a decisive subprogram. poor firms headed by women often succeed in providing more than nutritional food for their children than those headed by men.There is a strong correlation mingled with a higher level of gender equating and lower level of child mortality.ethnical traditions and friendly structures often mean that women are more fall upon-ed by hunger and poverty than men still though women, and in ill-tempered expectant and nursing draws, often need special or wobble magnitude intake of food. And too often, child hunger is inherited a mother who is stunted or underweight due to an inadequate diet often give birth to low birth weight children.The critical link between womens social status and nutrition The wide differences in womens nutrition among coun-tries that have standardized income levels indicate that some-thing other than income affects womens nutrition. Re-search indicates that cultural norms about take in and womens low social status often affect womens diets.In 2003, India and Bolivia had similar gross national in-comes, but 36 percent of Indian women were under-weight, compared wit h further 1 percent of Bolivian women.3 2 ADB 2013. 3 Ransom, E. Elder, L. (2003) Nutrition of Women and insipid Girls Why It Matters. Population Reference Bureau. BRIEF Women and sustenance SecurityWomen present numerous obstacles to doorway productive inputs, assets to set ashore and work required for agricultural livelihoods. These include admission price to fertilizers, livestock, mechanical equipment, improved seed varieties, exten-sion services, agricultural education and credit. Women receive for example only 5 percent of agricultural exten-sion services worldwide.As rural women often spend a large occur of their time on additional household obli-gations they have less time to spend on food fruit or other income opportunities. Women withal have less access to markets than men which hamper their opportu-nities to earn an income even further, and thus their pos-sibilities to be able to buy food.With fewer assets and heavier burdens, women are more vulnerable to s hocks and less well positioned to respond to e.g. the effects of climate transport or other rapid changes in the environ-ment. Social and economic inequalities between men and women result in less food being produced, less income being earned, and higher levels of poverty and food inse-curity.If women farmers had the same access to re-sources as men, the agricultural yield could increase by 20 to 30 percent. This could mature total agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5 percent, which could re-duce the flake of hungry people in the world by 12 to 17 percent.Another emerging challenge in food security and nutri-tion that needs to be addressed is to enhance women and mens resilience to climate change e.g. by diversified production as well as fortify electrical capacity to respond to challenges related to climate change, building on the opposite needs and coping mechanisms of women, men, boys and girls.Disasters, especially droughts, and emergency situa-tions are the most popular causes of food shortages in the world (WFP). In humanitarian contexts discrimina-tion of women and girls may be reinforced, and the oc-currence of domestic violence increase during times of food scarcity.Because of womens specific roles and experiences in food production and preparation, it is crucial to include them in emergency-related food securi-ty prep and decision making as latent change agents and decision have gotrs, sooner than as the victims they often are portrayed to be. sex dynamics at heart households must be taken into account in situations of displacement when food aid and other relief items are distributed.This includes mens and 4 UNDP 2012. 5 FAO 2012. womens ability to access and equitably distribute relief items within households. humanistic interventions that radically alter gender roles, for example by giving women great control over water and food distribution, may impact power dynamics negatively and can also lead to increased gender-bas ed violence.The quadruple dimension of food security from a gender perspective Availability. Inequalities in ownership of, access to and control of livelihoods assets negatively affect womens food production and food security. Tenure insecurity for women results in lower investment and potential envi-ronmental degradation.It compromises future production potential and increases food insecurity and reduces womens income and the handiness of food. Stability. Differences in risk and vulnerability between men and women can affect the stability of their food security in different ways. During times of crisis, women and girls are often forced to reduce their intake in (fa-vour?) of other household members.In cases of crop failure or natural disasters, cultural traditions collect it easier for men to leave their farm in search for employ-ment elsewhere, leaving women tin to struggle for feeding their families and making ends meet. Utilization. Womens role in food utilization for food s ecurity is perhaps the most critical and outweighs the importance of their role in food production and how they spend the income they earn.Women are typically re-sponsible for food preparation and thus are crucial to the dietary diversity of their households. Access. Access to food within the household is deter-mined by cultural practices and power traffichips within the family. Although food may be available, adequate amounts to maintain nutritional intake may not necessari-ly be as accessible to women compared to men. artificial lake FAO (2013) sex activity and climate change research in floriculture and food security for rural development. nutrition security and agricultural programmes can strength-en human rights and be more effective if they also tackle the constraints around womens access to resources. This is done through addressing the issue of unequal gender roles, responsibilities and workloads. To acknowledge womens role in food security, contributions are needed at a ll levels in a variety of result areas.Entry points for Sida can be identified within the following areas Womens right to food ? Assure womens human rights including the rights to education, knowledge and employment and womens equal rights to land, water and other resources that are infallible for raising the productivity of their agricul-tural activity, food and nutrition security. embolden womens productive activities by providing trainings, credit and access to improved and appropriate technology to reduce their work load. ? look into that women are empowered and trained to exercise their rights and take combat-ready betrothal in decision-making bodies. ? Mother-and-child health and nutrition programmes can break gender barriers in childcare by including men and boys in nutrition and health education activities.Womens access to land?Contribute to the reforming of faithfulnesss on tenure, land distribution, land reform and family law, including marital and inheritance laws, t o become gender equal. ? represent education and capacity building for govern-ment officials, legislators, and local land officials on gender comparability in access to land and property rights. ?Advocate the creation of mechanisms to supervise the enforcement of policies, targets and laws on womens access and rights to land. ? Promote womens access and rights to land in custom-ary law e.g. by supporting womens participation in bodies responsible for interpreting common law. ? take hold awareness-raising and access to information among women regarding land rights, including infor-mation about complaints mechanisms.Womens equal participation in labour markets ? Support government legislation that guarantees equita-ble employment conditions that cling to workers in both formal and informal employment. ? Extend the coverage of social protection to all catego-ries of rural workers and ensure that they incorporate womens special needs. ?Support policies and investments in labour-sa ving technologies and support public investments that make it easier for women to participate in the labour market. ? Intensify the provision of better-quality education and vocational training for women.Policy processes and frameworks ? The right to adequate food 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ? Womens specific role for rural development 1979 Convention on the elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), (Article 14) ? Special attention to the gender gap in nutrition 1992The world-wide Plan of Action on Nutrition of the In-ternational meeting on Nutrition ? Highlight the close interlinkages between gender equality and womens empowerment 1992 the Mil-lennium Development Goals (MDGs) ? Emphasize the specific role that women play in food security 2004The Voluntary Guidelines to sup-port Member States efforts to achieve the progressive realisation of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security ? Highl ights full and equal participation of men and women for achieving sustainable food security 2006 humans Summit on Food Security and The population Food Summit Plan of Action (e.g. 16, 1.3) ?grammatical gender issues in food security and nutrition 2012 The First Version of the Global Strategic framework for Food Security and Nutrition GSF ? Womens empowerment & equality of opportunity 2012 UN deposit General Zero hunger Challenge ? The importance of empowering rural women as critical agents 2012 Rio +20 Outcome Document ? Food insecurity indicator allowing disparities in food access based on e.g. gender 2013 FAOs Voices of the starved ?Support womens engagement in producer organisa-tions, cooperatives, labour unions, outgrow schemes etc. to strengthen womens voice and decision-making power. ? Support womens groups and other forms of collective action that builds relations and networks addressing gender gaps by reducing transaction costs, pooling risks, developing skills and bu ilding confidence.Womens access to financial services ? Improve financial systems and services, e.g. loans and insurances, to respond to the needs and constraints of women producers and entrepreneurs. ? tick that women are being consulted and included in discussions, decision-making, planning and provi-sion of financial services.Support financial institutions, governments and NGOs to offer financial literacy training to ensure that wom-en can make informed financial decisions. ? Promote technological innovations, such as prepaid cards and mobile phone plans for making loan pay-ments and transfer cash, to ease for women to gain access to capital.Womens access to technology ? Promote productivity enhancing agricultural tech-niques, including machines and tools, improved plant varieties and animal breeds, fertilizers, pest control measures and management techniques that address womens needs. ? Invest in labour-saving and productivity enhancing technologies and infrastructure, e.g. wa ter sources in villages, discharge efficient stoves, and roads, to free wom-ens time for more productive activities.Promote womens training on farming adaptation techniques such as pelting harvesting and agrofor-estry, and on agricultural diversification to increase their resilience. ? Promote accessory services that are more gender-responsive, i.e. considering all the roles of women and are closely cerebrate to womens activities.Support participatory gender-inclusive research and technology development programmes. Example of indicators ? theatrical role of population (women/men) in targeted areas suffering from starvation (impact level indicator, measures effect on target group) ? Proportion of population (women/men/girls/boys) below minimum level of dietary energy consump-tion (impact level indicator, measures effect on target group) ?A monitoring system providing food-security data disaggregated by sex, geographic location (or oth-er as relevant in the specific context) in us e (out-come level indicator, measures capacity development) ? Share of women and men using agricultural exten-sion services (output level indicator, measures ca-pacity development) Gender mainstreaming in humanitarian assis-tance ? Collect sex-disaggregated data for planning, imple-mentation and evaluation of food aid.Ensure that women and men take part equally in deci-sion-making, planning, implementation and manage-ment of food aid programmes. ? Design services to reduce womens and childrens time worn-out(a) getting to, and from food distribution points. ? Ensure that womens access to services is routinely monitored through observations and discussions with affected communities.Asian Development Bank (2013) & FAO (2013) Gen-der Equality and Food Security Womens empower-ment as a tool against hunger, FAO (2013) Training Guide Gender and climate change research in agriculture and food security FAO (2012) Global Strategic Framework for Food Se-curity and Nutrition FAO (2011) The st ate of Food and Agriculture Wom-en in agriculture Gender in agriculture broadcast for knowledge sharing Global Gender Climate Alliance and UNDP (2012) Gender, agriculture and food security IFAD, FAO WB (2009) Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook IFPRI, 2012 Global Food Policy Report, chapter 4 Closing the Gender Gap IASC (2006) Gender Handbook in worlditarian Action introduction Bank (2012) World Development Report on Gender Equality and Development World Food Program Causes to hunger the Zero Hunger Challenge UN Human Rights Council (2010) HRCs Advisory Committee on discrimination in the context of the right to food