Gadeberg, Marianne

Lecoutere, Els

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EVIDENCE EXPLAINERThe status of women in agriculture and foodsystems: persistent gaps and promising solutionsauthored byMarianne Gadeberg, Els LecoutereonApril 13, 2023Key messagesDuring the past ten years, signi cant progress has been made in understanding genderand social inequalities in agriculture and food systems. Yet, inequality remains severeand persistent.–The root causes of gender and social inequalities are structural barriers that manifest asrigid, discriminatory gender norms, policies and institutions.–Current evidence and recent experiences do offer promising solutions for addressingroot causes. Most importantly, efforts to boost equality and women’s empowerment mustbe holistic, socially inclusive and integrated across scales—from households to marketsand policies—in all food systems domains.–Photo: N. Ronoh/CIP.Research increasingly examinescauses, not symptoms, ofinequalitiesToday’s gender research and discourse increasingly focuses on the underlyingcauses of inequality in food systems, such as persistent structural barriers andnorms, rather than simply cataloguing the symptoms of inequality.Addressing these root causes requires enabling transformative change and fosteringwomen’s empowerment. Policymakers, development practitioners and researchersmust ensure that such efforts are holistic, socially inclusive and integrated acrossscales—from households to markets and policies—in all food systems domains.The CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform recently developed a global snapshot ofgender and social equality and women’s empowerment, presented in seven recentlypublished working papers (https://gender.cgiar.org/SWAFS-2023) .The papers, covering six key themes:The papers provided background for and informed the  ndings of the 2023 reportThe Status of Women in Agrifood Systems(https://www.fao.org/gender/resources/webinars-and-events/events-detail/fao-report-the-status-of-women-in-agrifood-systems/en) , recently published by the UN Food and AgricultureOrganization (FAO).Here we summarize the top insights from the seven working papers.identify changes in thinking and progress on equality over the past ten years–document promising solutions to create more equitable, just, resilient andsustainable food systems–Progress in understanding ofinequality and empowermentDuring the past ten years, we have notably seen more systematic, large-scale datacollection on gender norms. Likewise, progress has been made on how to de ne andmeasure women’s empowerment, with innovations in the direct, quantitativemeasurement of women’s agency.Second, recent research sheds light on important complexities. For example,literature has expanded on the structural causes of women and men’s differentcapacities for climate adaptation and resilience. Recent studies also offer morenuanced evidence on the challenges of measuring gender gaps in agriculturalproductivity.Third, research has begun to focus more on intersectionality—how social identitiessuch as gender, age, marital status, ethnicity and caste together in uence howfarmers and other people are able to, for example, respond to climate change,control their livestock businesses or increase their agricultural yields.Persistent inequalities remainGender and social inequalities remain severe in many agriculture-dependent, low-and middle-income countries. The main cause of these long-standing inequalitiesare structural barriers that manifest as rigid, discriminatory gender norms, policiesand institutions.These barriers hamper women’s access to productive resources, markets,technologies and information as well as their control over assets, which in turnaffects productivity gaps. Likewise, customs, laws and regulatory mechanisms tendto lock women out of decision-making spaces, constraining women’s voices, agencyand empowerment.Examples include:Rural women’s access to and control over land and trees is customarily mediatedand controlled by men within their families.–Agricultural extension services continue to be delivered by men experts targetingother men, sometimes preventing women from accessing information andtraining.–Local social norms and access to markets dictate the type of crops women cangrow—reducing their ability to grow and pro t from cash crops.–Financial institutions require identi cation documents and collateral, whichwomen are less likely to possess, to open bank accounts or obtain loans.–State-based policies largely do not address important gendered barriers in, forexample, livestock,  sheries and climate change.–Promising solutions for sustainable,transformative changeA number of promising approaches that address root causes of inequalities andfoster women’s empowerment have emerged across the themes that GENDER’sworking papers address.Create and support groups and social networks to improve women’s self-e cacy (belief that they can achieve their goals), social capital, agency andempowerment. Agricultural cooperatives can, for example, improve women’saccess to resources, increase their access to markets and improve theirproductivity. Cooperatives have also proved effective avenues for disseminatinginformation and for women to exchange knowledge.–Bundle inclusive technologies and services to overcome gender gaps inproductivity and other inequalities. Providing women with technologies that workfor them, along with access to services, group-based platforms and participatorytraining, can create positive outcomes. Solid partnerships—between government,development partners, civil society, collectives and communities—are essential tobuild the mutual trust and long-term collaboration required when working tochange gendered customs and power relations.–Build capacity to improve women’s self-e cacy, support their involvement indecision-making and enhance their knowledge and skills. The way knowledge isshared is also important. For example, interactive voice-response technologyinstead of text messages can be a better option due to women’s generally lowerliteracy levels. Providing information to husbands and wives when they aretogether appears to have a positive effect on women’s empowerment; it giveswomen direct access to information, helps secure men’s support and challengesgender norms.–Include women’s voices in policymaking and decisions at all levelsthrough, for example, inclusive consultation processes. Including their voices isthe only way that policies can be informed by and respond to women’s diverseexperiences and adequately respect their rights. Similarly, women leaders androle models can challenge rigid gender norms and increase other women’s agencyin areas such as investment, children’s education and cooperatives. Evidenceindicates that farmers are most convinced by communicators who share theirgroup identity or who have faced similar situations.–Continuously but cautiously challenge prevailing gender norms andcustoms to address the root causes of gender inequalities. Working with men andboys—while being conscious of potential backlash and increased violence againstwomen—can help shift toxic cultural beliefs, make men’s roles and masculinitiesmore visible, alter gendered power relations and foster support and acceptance bymen. Gender-transformative approaches can be used to increase women andmen’s abilities to recognize and analyze systems of inequality and to take actionagainst them.–Gaps in evidenceThe insights summarized here were built from extensive reviews of evidence andexperience, including input from gender researchers across CGIAR.However, evidence is, in some cases, limited. For example, we need to:learn more about how climate-resilient and climate-smart innovations can bedesigned and scaled to address gender inequalities    –test and evaluate the long-term e cacy of gender-transformative approaches–Finally, while GENDER’s working papers provided important inputs for FAO’s 2023report, they are not exhaustive. Other partners reviewed tenure security;agricultural labor, and unpaid care and domestic work; agri-food value chains andmarket opportunities; migration and feminization of agriculture; and resilience toglobal shocks and stressors. Overarching conclusions and recommendations areavailable in FAO’s 2023 report The Status of Women in Agrifood Systems(https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cc5343en) . Suggested citation:Gadeberg, M. and Lecoutere, E. 2023. The status of women in agriculture and foodsystems: persistent gaps and promising solutions. Nairobi, Kenya: CGIAR GENDERImpact Platform.collect more data disaggregated by gender and other relevant intersectionalcharacteristics–ReferencesLecoutere, E., Kosec, K., Quisumbing, A., Elias, M., Bryan, E., and Puskur, R. 2023. Equality andEmpowerment by Gender and Intersecting Social Differentiation in Agri-food Systems: Setting the Stage.CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform Working Paper #008. Nairobi, Kenya: CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform.Equality and Empowerment by Gender and Intersecting Social Differentiation in Agri-foodSystems: Setting the StageLecoutere, E., Achandi, E., Ampaire, E.L., Fischer, G., Gumucio, T., Najjar, D. and Singaraju, N. 2023.Fostering an Enabling Environment for Equality and Empowerment in Agri-food Systems. CGIAR GENDERImpact Platform Working Paper #009. Nairobi, Kenya: CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform.Fostering an Enabling Environment for Equality and Empowerment in Agri-food SystemsKosec, K., Hidrobo, M., Gartaula, H., Van Campenhout, B. and Carrillo, L. 2023. Making ComplementaryAgricultural Resources, Technologies and Services More Gender Responsive. CGIAR GENDER ImpactPlatform Working Paper #010. Nairobi, Kenya: CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform.Making Complementary Agricultural Resources, Technologies and Services More GenderResponsiveQuisumbing, A., Cole, S., Elias, M., Faas, S., Galiè, A., Malapit, H., Meinzen-Dick, R., Myers, E., Seymour, G.,and Twyman, J. 2023. Measuring Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture: Innovations and Evidence. CGIARGENDER Impact Platform Working Paper #011. Nairobi, Kenya: CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform.Measuring Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture: Innovations and EvidenceElias, M., Zaremba, H., Tavenner, K., Ragasa, C., Paez Valencia, A.M., Choudhury, A. and de Haan, N. 2023.Beyond Crops: Towards Gender Equality in Forestry, Fisheries, Aquaculture and Livestock Development.CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform Working Paper #012. Nairobi, Kenya: CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform.Beyond Crops: Towards Gender Equality in Forestry, Fisheries, Aquaculture and LivestockDevelopmentBryan, E., Alvi, M., Huyer, S. and Ringler, C. 2023. Addressing Gender Inequalities and StrengtheningWomen’s Agency for Climate-resilient and Sustainable Food Systems. CGIAR GENDER Impact PlatformWorking Paper #013. Nairobi, Kenya: CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform.Addressing Gender Inequalities and Strengthening Women’s Agency for Climate-resilientand Sustainable Food SystemsPuskur, R., Jumba, H., Reddy, B., Etale, L., Ragasa, C., Mishra, A., Mangheni, M.N., Nchanji, E., and Cole, S.2023. Closing Gender Gaps in Productivity to Advance Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. CGIARGENDER Impact Platform Working Paper #014. Nairobi, Kenya: CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform.Closing Gender Gaps in Productivity to Advance Gender Equality and Women’sEmpowermentYou can read this article at https://gender.cgiar.org/news/status-women-agriculture-and-food-systems-persistent-gaps-and-promising-solutions or frame the following QR Code with your mobile phone camera:The CGIAR GENDER Platform is grateful for the support of CGIAR Trust Fund ContributorsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The status of women in agriculture and food systems: Persistent gaps and promising solutions

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The status of women in agriculture and food systems: Persistent gaps and promising solutions

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