WUNRN
World Farmer’s Organisation Women’s Committee
http://www.wfo-oma.com/news/the-world-farmers-organisation-now-has-a-women-s-committee.html
DON’T FORGET FARMERS WHEN FINANCING FOR THE SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT GOALS – WOMEN FARMERS
“Agriculture also happens to be the main occupation of millions of women all over the world who produce a vast proportion of our food. So supporting them to grow their businesses is going to be an important step towards gender equality, another key area the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seek to tackle.”
The good news is that the draft outcome document
for this Third International
Conference on Financing for Development does believe that
investing in agriculture will have what it calls “rich payoffs” across the
Sustainable Development Goals, not just those relating to hunger. Indeed, there
are not many of the proposed SDGs that do not impact, or will not be impacted
by agriculture.
Sustainable water management for example, is a
hot topic in both developed and developing countries alike. And we stand no
hope of improving water management without addressing the sector that accounts
for almost 60 per cent
of global freshwater withdrawals, which is agriculture. Similarly, in relation
to climate change, agriculture accounts for around 30 per cent
of greenhouse gas emissions (when paired alongside deforestation) and is also
most vulnerable to its impacts, yet the sector also carries huge capacities to
mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable farming practices.
Agriculture also happens to be the main
occupation of millions of women all over the world who produce a vast
proportion of our food. So supporting them to grow their businesses is going to
be an important step towards gender equality, another key area the SDGs seek to
tackle.
ENSURE FARMERS CAN ACCESS TOOLS NEEDED
While the current draft outcome document
commits to substantially increase public investment in rural infrastructure and
agricultural research – which will undoubtedly contribute to the three focus
areas mentioned above – I am reminded of a Malawian farmer colleague named
Alice Kachere. She was amazed at the technology I had at my disposal to boost
my yields and profits. Her one question was: how do I get this on my farm?
The scientific innovations that are discovered
thanks to investments in agricultural research will be useless if we are not
securing the funding required to get them to farmers like Alice. At a minimum,
this requires investment into rural public goods, from transport infrastructure
and electrification to education and functioning markets. From here, we need to
be investing in successful models that allow vital inputs like
drought-resistant seeds or drip irrigation packages to remote rural areas where
an estimated 430 million people in the developing world live. This could take
the form of helping agrodealers get trained and set up to sell seeds,
fertilizer and pest control products to a community. It could take the form of
getting warehouses built which can safely store large quantities of inputs,
which can then be delivered to a central delivery point for farmers to collect.
As our fellow Farming First supporter organisation One Acre Fund says, we need
a “distribution revolution”.
INVEST IN RURAL EXTENSION SERVICES
At the same time, farmers need access to these
tools and technologies, as well as how to use them. Services that offer advice
to farmers, called extension agencies, have seen their funding slashed over
recent decades. Both the private sector and NGOs are trying to fill this gap,
but an injection of public funding would be hugely beneficial. It is going to
be critical if rural farmers are to be empowered to produce more food to meet
growing food demands.
It is clear that agriculture is the common thread which holds
together the Sustainable Development Goals. Investing in agriculture is
therefore one of the most effective routes to tackling not only hunger and
malnutrition but also other key challenges.
* Sue Carlson is
Chair of the World Farmers Organisation’s Women’s Committee and
a spokesperson for the agricultural coalition Farming First.