"Despite their wealth of knowledge and capacity, women farmers are
neglected by policy makers, often not being recognised as 'productive' farmers.
Their farm work is frequently unpaid or undervalued; they tend to be excluded
from decision-making; and they do not have equal access to land and other
resources, credit, markets, education, extension services and inputs."
"What changes
do we need to empower women smallholders and achieve food security?" In an
effort to address this question, 9 international development agencies produced
this briefing to share the lessons learned based on their experience of promoting
gender equality and working with women smallholders and rural women over many
decades. The involved agencies are: ActionAid International, CARE, Christian
Aid, Concern Worldwide, Find Your Feet, Oxfam, Practical Action, Save the
Children, and Self Help Africa.
Lessons from working with women
smallholders:
- Collective action is key
to economic and social empowerment - "In some contexts, women-only
groups can provide 'enabling spaces' where marginalised women can gain
self-esteem, confidence and skills by creating a space for them to
identify their needs, understand their rights and begin to articulate
their demands. Women-only groups can also provide a step towards wider
participation in mixed groups and other decision-making forums. For
example, in Northeastern Brazil, women farmers have created a forum
through which they exchange their knowledge and experiences on
agroecological farming, while strengthening their identity as rural women
and building their self-confidence....Politically, it served to unveil the
diverse types of oppression suffered by women..."
- Access to productive
resources is essential - In addition to secure and stable access to
productive resources including land, water, forests, and fisheries, as
well as access to inputs and appropriate financial services, it is noted
here that women need appropriate extension services, training,
technologies, and access to appropriate marketing facilities.
- Economic empowerment is
not enough, underlying gender inequalities must be challenged -
"...women's economic empowerment must be accompanied by measures to
address broader gender issues including power imbalances, gender
stereotypes and discrimination against women. Among and between both men
and women, activities that promote discussion and mutual understanding of
issues such as gender roles, unequal workload, rights and responsibilities
are important for raising awareness, informing programmes and policies and
ultimately addressing gender inequality....[I]n Bangladesh, it was found
that by addressing the causes of deeply-entrenched power inequalities
between men and women, poor sanitation and poverty, in addition to direct
nutrition interventions, led to a significant reduction in child stunting;
the stunting among children between 6 and 24 months old was reduced by 4.5
percentage points per year..."
- Disaster resilience and
risk management approaches must be gender-sensitive and integrated with
development interventions - The briefing contends that, in addition to
taking part in local-level mitigation and adaptation projects, women can
play a key role as advocates for change. For example, in India, thousands
of women farmers were mobilised in a campaign by the Deccan Development
Society (DDS) and the Millet Network of India for the inclusion of millets
in the definition of food grains in the National Food Security Bill and
the decentralised public distribution system.
The paper concludes with a number of
recommendations to help close the gender gap in agriculture. They are divided
into: (i) recommendations for national governments - example: "Engage
women in policy-making and planning processes at all levels, for example by
establishing quotas and targets for women in decision-making roles, legislating
to remove barriers, and encouraging the establishment of effective collective
structures that are gender-sensitive", and (ii) recommendations for
multilateral and bilateral donors - example: "Support and engage actively
with women's civil society organisations and networks (such as farmers' groups
and women's cooperatives) and facilitate their systematic inclusion and
participation in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of
agricultural research, policies and programmes."