Recognizing and Empowering the Role of Women in Agriculture

The Road towards more Inclusive Agrifood Systems

WOMEN: THE INVISIBLE PRESENCE IN THE PRIMARY SECTOR

Associating the primary sector with male professional figures is anachronistic and incorrect. Women today play a central role not only in agriculture but also in the livestock and fishery sectors.

In both Europe and developing countries, women are crucial in agriculture. Even though the average age of female farmers in Europe is significantly higher than that of developing countries, their engagement still reaches nearly 30%. But it is most evident in rural areas and developing countries that female employment stands out within the agricultural sector. In Latin America, and particularly in Venezuela, Argentina, and Uruguay, women account for almost 50% of the total rural population, with the highest rates of female labor participation worldwide. In Africa, the female agricultural labor force exceeds 50%, while in Asia, the country that counts globally the highest number of women employed in the primary sector, reaches peaks of 60–90%.

This is the visible side of female engagement in the agricultural sector because the reality is that their effective involvement is much higher. The reference is to female farmers, breeders, and fisherwomen who work informally, without being contractually employed, without receiving adequate compensation, without having their work included in official statistics. FAO has often stressed in its reports how traditional criteria for collecting data in agriculture are not able to consider and include subsistence farming activities, often linked to broader household management, water management and collection, small livestock care activities, and kitchen gardening for which women are responsible in most African countries. In many parts of the world, women are the key managers and central providers of the family’s needs.

Regardless of regional differences or value chain peculiarities, in agriculture, women are generally the main protagonists of post-harvest processing activities, producing much of the world’s fresh food. Their activities often make them invisible workers in the realm of statistics and data, which is typically limited to strictly considering fieldwork Yet, these are activities that require time and effort on a daily basis: in China, for example, women devote more than half of their time to agricultural activities; in other countries such as The Gambia the percentage reaches peaks of of 60–80%. Beyond the time involved, their contribution is of high added value. Female engagement in the processing and storing of food from the fields ensures the quality of the final commodities produced.

This is also evident in the field of pastoralism, with care, preservation, and protection of livestock being generally female tasks, as opposed to the marketing, which is generally entrusted to men. Additionally, the spirit of motherhood is evident in the management of livestock. Breeding is embedded in raising, combining economic and cultural needs, ensuring the continuation of life, combining sustainable practices with protecting the territory. It is not surprising then that women are more likely to innovate when it comes to pastoralism, going well beyond the typically traditional tasks, as emerged in a recent Italian study.

The fishing and aquaculture sector is also characterized by deep-rooted gender inequalities. In fact, it is estimated that women represent half of the workforce in the marine sector, predominantly involved in post-harvest: cleaning, processing, and selling seafood, all of which are central activities to ensure that fish are available for the market and communities. Yet, just as in the agricultural sector, these tasks are not defined as proper “fishing activities.” This does not mean that they don’t also play an active role in catching. In the Mediterranean sea, for example, women fish with nets, forage for fish and mollusks and often accompany men on small-scale fisheries boats.

Data indicates that roughly two million women are involved in the catching activities of small-scale fisheries each year, generating economic gains of approximately USD$14.8 billion per year. However, officially their role as guardians remains unseen, and with it, also the chances of receiving adequate protection.

WHAT HAPPENS BEHIND THE SCENES?

With the brutality that only a global pandemic could have unleashed, the world has realized how interconnected and interdependent food systems are. With no distinction between the North and South of the globe, the urgency of ensuring food security and consequently food justice must inevitably pass through more effective forms of equity and inclusion.

“We are all in the same storm, but not in the same boat, and those who have more fragile boats sink more easily,” said Pope Francis.

Yet, gender inequality in agriculture remains one of the more significant areas of gender disparity worldwide, the FAO reveals. Disparities not only through forms of invisibility but also through concrete obstacles and constraints.

Too often, female farmers are excluded from equal access to agricultural resources, improved seed varieties, equipment, information, education, credit, and insurance compared to men. These kinds of disparities unite women’s work in the agricultural and fishing sectors, with women often being assigned the most unstable and poorly paid or even unpaid positions.

Gender inequality in the agricultural sector is also reflected in a deep digital divide:in livestock management, for example, less than 3% of women have access to technology and equipment that can reduce labor intensity, maximize yields, and reduce health hazards. These statistics confirm how it is possible that, in Uganda, for example, women suffer from high levels of exposure and contamination to chemical residues because of their inability and incapability of using them. In addition, this context further explains why the FAO reveals that women’s agricultural productivity is on average 20–30% lower than men’s.

Also, lack of access to or ownership of land, which represents a necessary condition for ensuring their independence and autonomy in the primary sector, still makes women’s work heavily penalized compared to that of men. In India, for example, women constitute over 42% of the agricultural labor force but own less than 2% of farmland.

This context, exaggerated by the disruption of multiple lockdowns and market closures, intertwines with the cultural context and women’s socioeconomic status, making female farmers, breeders, and fisherwomen less resilient and less able to recover than men.

TOWARDS A MORE EQUITABLE, INCLUSIVE, AND JUST FARMING FUTURE FOR ALL

Empowering women in agriculture and eliminating the current gender gap is more urgent than ever, not only to increase female farm returns (by upwards of 20–30% according to UN Women) but also to boost agricultural production in developing countries, tackling the serious issue of undernourishment. This is the basis for more equitable and inclusive food systems.

Bringing to light the presence and work of women in the food system decision-making processes, is, therefore, something more than promoting female leadership.

It is for these reasons that the Future Food Institute, in collaboration with MoooFarm, have decided to dedicate a UN Food Systems Summit Independent Dialogue to the role of women in agriculture, coordinated under the Project DAWN (Dairy, Agriculture, Women, Nutrition), a flagship initiative of MoooFarm, focused on empowering of small-scale women dairy farmers to make small-scale dairy farming more inclusive, sustainable, efficient, and nutritious.

Scheduled on July 2nd at 8:00–10:00 am CEST, the dialogue will be an opportunity to investigate how technologies can not only enable equal female access to improved and sustainable agriculture segments and practices but also to bridge the gender gaps in agricultural technology and better understand the positive impacts of women-run agripreneurships. Don’t miss it! Register online here!

The event will feature outstanding women leaders, thinkers, and doers, experts and UN Agencies: including, Gerda Verburg, UN Assistant Secretary-General; Diana Battaggia, Head of UNIDO ITPO Italy; Purvi Mehta, Asia Lead of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Bettina Prato, Senior Coordinator, Smallholder and Agri-SME Finance and Investment Network (SAFIN), IFAD. This dialogue aims to restore the voice and power to all stakeholders in the food system, men and women, without distinction, starting from developing countries.

“The Earth is a gift, and to make it fertile, we require the work of people. Human work is the key to sustainable development.” Daniela Fumarola

The Future Food Institute is an international social enterprise and the cornerstone of the Future Food Ecosystem, a collection of research labs, partnerships, initiatives, platforms, networks, entrepreneurial projects and academic programs, aiming to build a more equitable world through enlightening a world-class breed of innovators, boosting entrepreneurial potential, and improving agri-food expertise and tradition.

Future food advocates for positive change through initiatives in Waste & Circular Systems, Water Safety & Security, Climate, Earth Regeneration, Mediterranean Foodscape, Nutrition for All, Humana Communitas, and Cities of the Future as we catalyze progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Learn more at www.futurefoodinsitute.org, join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or YouTube. Or attend a program through the FutureFood.Academy!