Gender and Food Security

© Oxfam photo Geoff, Sayer, Tanzania

Women Producers

© Oxfam photo Abbie Trayler-Smith, Malawi

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.

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 Gilvan Barreto, Honduras © Oxfam photo, Abby Trayler-Smith, Malawi

Access to Credit

© Oxfam/Cordero photo Diana Hernandez, Mexico

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.

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

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© 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.

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© 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: - Income-generating ventures - Land - Agricultural inputs - Education, and - Decision-making

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© Oxfam photo Jane Beesley, Kenya

© Oxfam photo Gilvan Barreto, Honduras