Women bear the brunt of food insecurity and hunger and must be part of the solution
“Women produce between 60 and 80 percent of the food in most developing countries and are responsible for half of the world’s food production, yet their key role as food producers and providers and their critical contribution to household food security is only now becoming recognized.”
Today, 8 March, is International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate the social, political, and economic achievements of women. One of the big headlines today was how the recession is hitting women in developing countries. As the article states, “Seventy per cent of the poorest people on the planet are women and girls, and even in a wealthy country like Canada they are the majority of the poor.” Jobs in the traditionally female employment sectors (retail, restaurants, cleaning) are rapidly vanishing because of the economic downturn, and because women earn less than men even in good times (a 16% overall wage gap globally), they have fewer resources when things turn bad. This makes them (and their children) extremely vulnerable to rises in food prices and much more likely to fall victim to poverty, malnutrition, and starvation (not to mention abuse as they are forced to do whatever is necessary in order to earn money to buy food to survive).
The International Food Policy Research Institute has issued a number of fascinating reports (Women: the Key to Food Security, Helping Women Respond to the Global Food Price Crisis) outlining the special problems facing women as they deal with issues of food security and hunger. Here are a few of its findings:
- Agricultural productivity increases dramatically when women get the same amount of inputs (such as educational, labour, fertiliser) that men get: one single year of primary school education caused women farmers to increase their maize production by 24%.
- Women’s education and status within the household contribute more than 50 percent to the reduction of child malnutrition: an educated and respected woman has a much greater likelihood of raising a healthy child.
- Good care practices can mitigate the effects of poverty and low maternal schooling on children’s nutrition: teaching uneducated women about how to feed and care for their children helped their children to achieve the same height and weight as those of more highly-educated mothers.
- Women are at a disadvantage when food and nutrients are distributed within a household: women feed their children first and themselves second, which means they often go hungry and lack proper adult nutrients.
The IPRI recommended that a number of steps be taken to improve the situation: reform and monitor legal, social, and cultural institutions to improve the status of women, be innovative in the design of agricultural, food, and nutrition programs, and design projects to be more sensitive to the livelihoods of both men and women.
One brilliant example of what can be done: the international women’s human rights organisation MADRE runs a program for women farmers in the Sudan , who “face a triple crisis of poverty, environmental degradation, and armed conflict.” Their project provides these farmers with seeds and supplies, including donkeys and plows, as well as resources and technical assistance. You can donate to MADRE here.
