Gender and Food Security
© Oxfam photo Geoff, Sayer, Tanzania
Women Producers
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 women’s key
role as food
producers and
providers is not
widely recognized.
© Oxfam photo Abbie Trayler-Smith, Malawi
Access to Resources
While women are
the mainstay of
small-scale
agriculture, they
often have more
difficulty than men
in gaining access to
resources such as:
- Land
- Credit
- Agricultural inputs
- Training, and
-Research
© Oxfam photo Abbie Trayler-Smith, Cambodia
Food Security and Women
Food security is defined
as access to and
availability of food,
adequate resource
distribution to produce
food, and the ability to
buy food where it is not
produced.
Given women’s crucial
role in food production,
any set of strategies for
sustainable food
security must address
their limited access to
resources.
Reducing Women’s Workload
Interventions to
reduce women's
workload can
significantly
enhance their
contribution to
household food
security.
They also help in
reducing women’s
stress and
improving the
health and nutrition
of their families.
© Oxfam photo, Gilvan Barreto, Peru
Interventions
Interventions could
include:
-provision of water
supplies;
-light transport for
fuelwood
-labour saving tools
-grinding mills and
other crop
processing
equipment
© Oxfam photo, Gilvan Barreto, Honduras
Access to Land
Globally less
than two
percent of
land is owned
by women,
Yet, the
number of
female
headed
households
continue to
grow.
© Oxfam photo, Abby Trayler-Smith, Malawi
© Oxfam photo Gilvan Barreto, Honduras
Access to Credit
Globally, only 10
percent of credit
programs are
extended to
women.
In part, this is
caused by laws and
cultural practices
that don’t allow
women to share
land property rights
with their
husbands.
© Oxfam/Cordero photo Diana Hernandez, Mexico
Access to Agricultural Inputs
Women's access to
technological inputs
such as improved
seeds and fertilizer is
limited because they:
-are frequently not
reached by
extension services
-are rarely members
of cooperatives
-Often lack the cash
income to buy inputs
© Oxfam photo Gilvan Barreto, Honduras
Access to Education and Training
Globally, two-thirds
of the one billion
illiterate people are
women and girls.
Only 5 percent of
training services
have been
addressed to rural
women.
Less than15 percent
of the world's
extension agents
are women.
© Oxfam photo Abby Traylor-Smith, Cambodia
Improving Food Security
To improve
household and
community food
security, greater
priority has to be
given to increasing
women's access to:
- Incomegenerating ventures
-Land
-Agricultural inputs
-Education, and
-Decision-making
© Oxfam photo Jane Beesley, Kenya
© Oxfam photo Gilvan Barreto, Honduras