Gender dimensions of food and nutrition security (FSN) · Gender dimensions of food and nutrition security (FSN) ... adequate health, education and care. The term FNS combines these

Overview of gender

concepts and principles

Gender dimensions of

food and nutrition security (FSN)

Text-only version

This course is funded by the European Union through the EU-FAO

Improved Global Governance for Hunger Reduction Programme

© FAO, 2014

Gender in Food and Nutrition Security

Text-only version

In this lesson

LEARNING OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................................................. 2

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 2

GENDER AND THE FOUR PILLARS OF FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY ...................................................... 3

WHAT WE CAN DO ...................................................................................................................................... 11

GENDER AND WATER, LAND AND LIVESTOCK ............................................................................................ 13

GENDER and NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT for FNS ....................................................................... 18

GENDER AND THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE .................................................................................... 20

VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE ........................................................................................................ 23

GENDER-TRANSFORMATIVE APPROACH IN CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION ........................................... 24

GENDER AND FNS DURING EMERGENCIES ................................................................................................. 27

CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................................. 30

SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................... 31


Text-only version

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

describe the gender aspects of the four pillars of FNS;

be familiar with a number of strategies towards gender equality in agricultural

interventions;

identify the link between FNS and natural resource management, climate change and

emergencies.

INTRODUCTION

Is there a connection between gender equality and FNS?

The answer is yes. Countries with the most severe gender inequalities face the highest level of

hunger.

In fact, unequal access to resources and services translates into lower agricultural productivity.

On the map to the right, look at some data based on plot sizes farmed by men and women from

sub-Saharan Africa. These studies show that women have lower productivity than men because

they do not have the same access to inputs (e.g. water, fertilizers, technology).

If we want to reduce extreme poverty and improve FNS, we must promote gender equality in

our interventions in agriculture.

For example… …in Burkina Faso a study of 4 700 agricultural plots found that women’s plots had a 20 percent lower yield for vegetables and a 40 percent lower yield for sorghum than those of men. This difference could be explained by women’s lower use of labour and fertilizer. Yields could have increased by 6 percent if resources were allocated to women’s plots …in Ethiopia female-headed households produced 35 percent less per hectare than male-headed households, but the differences were entirely attributable to lower input use and less access to extension by women farmers.


Text-only version

Ensuring equal access to and control over resources is not enough. The multiple roles of men and

women need to be valued equally. Often, women’s work is undervalued, and frequently policies and

interventions do not promote women’s full potential in agriculture.

We need to identify strategies to address gender inequality, and recognize opportunities to foster the

full potential of men and women.

In this lesson, we shall first explore how the gender gap has negative impacts on each pillar of FNS.

Then, we will consider some high-level strategies to attain gender equality. Finally, we’ll analyse how

gender is related to FNS in areas such as resource management, climate change and emergencies.

GENDER AND THE FOUR PILLARS OF FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY

FNS not only requires an adequate supply of food, but also entails food availability, access, stability and

utilization for all, including men and women of all ages, ethnicities, religions and socio-economic levels.

Availability, access, stability and utilization are referred to as the ‘four pillars of food and nutrition

security’. Gender issues are a cross-cutting factor, and women play critical roles in maintaining all

pillars.

From food security to FNS

“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (1996 World Food Summit). This concept has been broadened to include aspects of healthy diets and good nutrition. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) states that: “Nutrition security exists when all people at all times consume food of sufficient quantity and quality

For example… …in Malawi maize yields were 12 to19 percent higher on men’s plots, but when women had the same level of fertilizer for use on experimental plots, they had the same yields as men. …in Ghana Men and women cocoa farmers in Ghana produced the same yields when their input use was similar. a study of 4 700 agricultural plots in Burkina Faso found that women’s plots had a 20 percent lower yield for vegetables and a 40 percent lower yield for sorghum than those of men. This difference could be explained by women’s lower use of labour and fertilizer. Yields could have increased by 6 percent if resources were allocated to women’s plots …in Ethiopia In Ethiopia, female-headed households produced 35 percent less per hectare than male-headed households, but the differences were entirely attributable to lower input use and less access to extension by women farmers. …in Malawi


Text-only version

in terms of variety, diversity, nutrient content and safety to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life, coupled with a sanitary environment, adequate health, education and care.” The term FNS combines these two concepts. Food security actions should ensure that food systems provide all households with stable access to sufficient, appropriate and safe food. Nutrition security actions aim to ensure that households and individuals have the knowledge and supportive health and environmental conditions necessary to obtain adequate nutritional benefit from food.

We just considered how the concept of FNS goes beyond the mere availability of food to include the

concept of food quality along with a healthy, hygienically-sound environment.

What should be our strategy when designing our interventions?

We should involve diverse and complementary processes and strategies that go beyond food

production and consider issues such as livelihoods, women’s empowerment and optimal intra-

household use of resources.

In addition, the combined provision of food-based agriculture support, children’s health services,

nutrition education for mothers and women’s empowerment interventions can lead to a positive

impact on FNS.

Let’s see what these four pillars mean, as reflected in the life of Ali and Khalifa, parents of two children

in a rural area:

① Availability

In their village there is fresh food available in the local market and there are sufficient quantities,

from either domestic production or from imports.

② Access

However, Ali’s family must have the means to access food throughout the year. They produce some

food for their own consumption, but have very little money to purchase it. Although there is food

available in the market, they cannot afford to buy it on a regular basis.

Some members of Ali’s family may have less reliable access to food than others.


Text-only version

③ Utilization

Adequate utilization of food requires a healthy physical environment: this family does not have access

to safe drinking water, nor to adequate sanitary facilities.

④ Stability

The previous year, heavy floods impacted the food production of smallholder farmers. Ali and Khalifa

(like most people in their village), suffered from the instability of food supplies and had to sell their small

livestock to find the means to survive.

However, Ali’s family must have the means to access food throughout the year. They produce some

food for their own consumption, but have very little money to purchase it. Although there is food

available in the market, they cannot afford to buy it on a regular basis. Some members of Ali’s family

may have less reliable access to food than others.

We noted how all four pillars are needed to ensure FNS. Now, let’s see how gender influences all of

these dimensions, starting from food availability.

① Food availability

Food is considered available when there are sufficient quantities of adequate and nutritious

food at national or regional levels.

Food available at the national level does not necessarily translate into adequate food for

everyone in a country.

Similarly, at the household level, available food does not necessarily translate into adequate,

nutritious food for all members.

In many cultures, the male members of the household enjoy more food availability and higher

quality food than female members.

Food availability is measured by agricultural production and yield data.

Focus on nutrition – 1

For a household to be not only food but nutrition secure, diverse and nutrient-rich foods need

to be produced or made available.


Text-only version

This attention to nutrition is crucial in agricultural planning, where stakeholders tend to focus on

energy-rich staple crops (e.g. maize, rice, and wheat) rather than nutrient-rich crops (e.g.

horticulture crops or animal-source foods); or on cash-crops (which are often non-food crops

such as cotton) rather than diverse food crops which are more difficult to market, but important

to ensure food variety and a balanced diet.

By working with and through women there is great potential to improve household nutrition, as

when food is scarce, women usually take the lead in identifying and developing alternative food

sources or coping mechanisms.

Gender dimension

Smallholder agriculture, where women play an important role, is key to food availability.

Women farmers represent about 43 percent of the agricultural labour force in developing

countries, and are the majority of the workforce in over 30 countries.

In many countries, women contribute the bulk of the labour in food crops and livestock

production for home consumption, while men produce commodities for the market. This

division of roles is of particular significance with respect to biodiversity.

This division of roles is of particular significance: women and men are repositories of different

types of agricultural knowledge. To maintain productivity and flexibility in the agricultural

systems, it is crucial to retain and utilize all these different types of local knowledge.

Women are also responsible for home gardens that represent an important source of food.

They predominate as gardeners, wild food gatherers and seed savers, providing approximately

80 percent of wild vegetable food collected in 135 subsistence societies. For example: Women

often have a unique understanding of local biodiversity and can be strategic partners for plant

breeders, as they develop improved varieties.

Investing in opportunities for women farmers can have a powerful impact on productivity

and food availability.


Text-only version

Gender gap in food availability

Despite the vital role of women farmers in agriculture they frequently:

• do not have equal access to land and other resources such inputs, credit, markets,

o education and extension services;

• are excluded from decision-making;

• receive lower wages for their agricultural labour and are often unpaid;

• are neglected by policy-makers.

For example, in Africa, where women provide half of the agricultural labour force in many countries,

women own just 1 percent of agricultural land, receive only 7 percent of extension services and access

less than 10 percent of agricultural credit offered to small-scale farmers.

This gender gap reduces women’s productivity and, therefore, has a negative impact on food

availability.

According to the State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2011, closing the gap between men and women

in terms of access to resources and services could:

raise yields on women's farms.

increase agricultural production in developing countries.

② Food access

Food access focuses at the individual or household level, and refers to the physical, economic

and social ability to have adequate quality and quantity of food.

Availability of food does not automatically translate into food security: families must have the

means to access food throughout the year.

The main constraints can be physical (e.g. washed-out roads in a rainy season limiting the access

to markets), economical (e.g. high quality foods are too costly or there is not enough money) or

social (e.g. low-caste households or female-headed households may be denied access to markets).

Food access also involves questions about the nutritional value of the food.


Text-only version


Households need the means to produce and/or purchase a wide variety of nutritious

foods. In many cases, the diets of poor families consist of cheap but energy-rich foods,

which ‘fill the stomach’ but lack important nutrients for people to stay healthy and

resilient over time. Foods rich in micronutrients (e.g. animal-source foods, fruits and

vegetables) are often too expensive for poor families.

Also, there is a close link between women’s workload and their food choices. Due to

time constraints, they may opt for highly processed food, instead of locally produced

food, resulting in health problems such as obesity and diabetes.

Gender gap in food access

Food accessibility can be heavily determined by the available income to purchase food, but

gender inequalities constrain women’s ability to earn an income.

In many countries women have less education and work experience than men; combined with

social discrimination, this results in fewer employment opportunities and lower wages for

women. On average, women are paid less than men for equivalent jobs, placing female-headed

households at a particular disadvantage, and at risk of being food insecure.

Evidence has shown that when women have an income they are more likely to spend the money

on food and children's needs.

Gender gap in food access at the household level

A key gender issue is intrahousehold inequalities in food access. In households with limited

food, women and girls are most likely to eat less food, and less nutritious food. In many cultures,

they eat only after other family members are fed.

As a consequence, when food is scarce, women are often the first to face hunger. Moreover,

poor maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation leads to problems with infant nutrition,

growth and development.

When we analyse food security in a project area, it is important not only to examine the situation at

the household level, but also the intrahousehold dynamics.


Text-only version

③ Food utilization

Food utilization refers to food preparation and consumption, and the household’s decisions

concerning what food to purchase or produce for consumption.

Adequate food utilization also includes proper food processing and storage techniques, as

well as a healthy physical environment, including safe drinking water and adequate sanitary

facilities.


Micronutrient deficiencies disproportionately impact women and children. For example,

between four and five billion people suffer from iron deficiency: half of them are pregnant

women and children under five in developing countries. Iron deficiency delays normal motor

and mental functioning in infants, causes fatigue and impairs the ability to do physical work in

adults, affects the mental functioning in teens and increases the risk of small or preterm babies

in pregnant women.

The consequences of iron deficiencies makes careful targeting extremely important in our FNS

programmes.

Gender dimension

In most societies, women play the primary role in making adequate use of available food,

thereby ensuring nutrition security not only for themselves, but also for their children and other

family members. Their care and feeding practices include breast feeding and adequate food

storage and preparation. Women are usually responsible for collecting fuel wood and water, and

ensuring hygiene and sanitation practices for the positive health and nutrition outcomes of

infants and children.

For this reason, unequal gender relations in the household can seriously prevent women from

ensuring adequate food utilization and the well-being of the entire family.

④ Food stability

Food stability refers to stability in the food supply from year to year, and during different

seasons of the year.


Text-only version

Food stability also includes issues of adequate food storage, price stability and capacity to access

food during emergencies.

For example, the drastic increases in the food prices in 2008 in many countries resulted in severe

problems of temporary food insecurity and triggered or exacerbated conflicts.

Food stability is at risk during times of conflict and war.

Gender dimension

During emergencies, women and girls tend to be affected differently than men and boys.

Women often lose their capacity to provide seeds, livestock and food for their families (unless

emergency relief operations adopt gender-sensitive approaches).

Conflict situations affect both women and men in different ways: if men are more at risk to be

recruited to fight, women and girls are more vulnerable to gender-related violence and may not

be able to access their fields to grow crops, graze livestock or fetch water.

As a summary, an example statement for each pillar follows:

Availability In poor households, women most likely eat less (and less nutritious food) than men eat.

Access Female-headed households often do not have enough income to buy food.

Utilization Women are usually responsible for good sanitation practices while preparing food.

Stability During a conflict, women and young girls may not be able to access their crops.

Understanding how men and women experience and respond to crises, and assessing their different

capacity for recovery, is essential to ensure effective access to nutritious food during the crisis and

rehabilitation.


Text-only version

WHAT WE CAN DO

Women make significant contributions across all four pillars of FNS; however, flexible, adaptable and

resilient FNS systems are based on joint collaboration between women and men.

We need to draw on all these resources.

In the light of this need, how can we improve our interventions?

Incorporate gender analysis in programme design:

Gender analysis looks at different roles and responsibilities of men and women, their

differentiated access to and control of resources and their priority needs.

Gender analysis can help us understand the causes of gender inequalities, recognize the

intrahousehold gender dynamics, and identify the different roles and contributions of men and

women.

Understanding underlying gender barriers allows us to make informed decisions to address

gender inequalities during all stages of the project cycle.

Invest in women and smallholder agriculture

Ways to improve nutrition by investing in women and smallholder agriculture include actions to:

empower women farmers to increase their control over income and household spending (which

usually leads to more being spent on the feeding and care of young children);

promote home gardens and small-scale livestock rearing for increased diversity of production

and consumption. Combine these programmes with education on diet, childcare and hygiene.

complement agricultural programmes with education and communication, health services,

water and sanitation.

Empower women in both productive and reproductive roles

Women’s empowerment is considered crucial for improving nutrition outcomes. Since women

are often primary caregivers, they can influence their children’s nutrition indirectly through their

own nutritional status and directly through childcare practices.


Text-only version

Research consistently shows that households benefit when women’s status in the household

increases. Benefits include increased income allocated to food, health, education, children’s

clothing and children’s nutrition.

Empowering women in both productive and reproductive roles entails adopting strategies at

household, community and country levels.

Productive and reproductive roles

Men’s and women’s multiple roles at community level can be illustrated as follows: Reproductive role: Childbearing and domestic tasks are usually done by women and include not only biological reproduction, but also the care and maintenance of the workforce (male partner, oneself and working children) and the future workforce (infants and school-aged children). This work is usually unpaid. Productive role: This work is done by both men and women for pay in cash or kind. It includes both market production with an exchange-value, and subsistence and home production with actual use-value and the potential exchange-value. For women in agricultural production, this includes work as independent farmers, peasant wives and wage workers. The work is both paid (but often underpaid) and unpaid. Community managing role: These activities are performed primarily by women at the community level, as an extension of their reproductive role, to ensure the provision and maintenance of scarce resources of collective consumption, such as water, energy sources, health care and education. This is unpaid work undertaken in 'free' time. Community politics role: These activities are undertaken primarily by men at the community level, organized at the formal political level, often within the framework of national politics. This is usually paid work, either directly or indirectly, through status or power.

The importance of analysing intrahousehold gender dynamics

Food security interventions often focus on improving food production and food security at the

community and/or household levels. While these activities are targeted towards women producers,

they frequently overlook intrahousehold gender dynamics.

To have sustainable impact across all four pillars, FNS interventions will need to go beyond addressing

the symptoms of the problem to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the underlying gender

barriers.


Text-only version

A gender analysis can help us understand the different roles of women and men within the household,

to make better use of the existing resources, and address their different needs and priorities.

For example, a gender analysis at household level identifies the major off-farm activities (i.e.

fuel collection, water collection, fishing) and who has responsibility for each. This analysis

can inform more effective decisions when designing programmes/project activities.

GENDER AND WATER, LAND AND LIVESTOCK

Let us now consider how gender affects the access to and use of natural resources.

About 1.3 billion rural people in the world depend exclusively on the availability of usable land, water

and livestock. However, the systems defining access to these resources are often pervaded by

inequalities because of cultural traditions and discriminatory legal practices.

We will consider the gender gap for each of these natural resources and list a few general actions that

government and other stakeholders can adopt to overcome them.

You may also apply this information to fisheries or forests.

Let us start by considering access to land.

① Land

We have already mentioned that in many countries women are commonly excluded from ownership

of land, fisheries and forests, despite the fact that they often provide a significant part of the labour.

Not only do women control less land than men do, but if they do control it, it is often of poor quality

and their tenure is insecure.

For example, women who have

access to land may lose their rights if the land becomes more valuable, or they may be moved to

poorer land without proper compensation. This may happen, for example, in the case of improved

infrastructures (i.e. roads, water) or when a decision is made to exploit the land for mineral wealth.

Insecure land tenure is a significant challenge to FNS, since it reduces incentives to invest in the land

and make improvements to farming practices.


Text-only version

…commonly excluded

Customary laws often prevent women from accessing land. For example: • Many women farmers can only access land through male partners or male relatives. • Where it is customary for land to be passed from father to son, women are rarely

allocated land of their own. When this happens, their husbands or other men in positions of authority often take control of their property.

• In some cultures, widows and girls are often denied the right to inherit land and may be forced off the land on the death of the husband or father.

• In some cultures, when a man dies, his widow is ‘inherited’ by a male family member. If the widow refuses, she may then lose her access to the land.

This chart from the SOFA 2011 shows that gender disparities in the access to land are common to all

regions. Women represent fewer than 5 percent of all agricultural holders in the countries in North

Africa and West Asia for which data are available.


Text-only version

Here are some high-level strategies to address gender inequality in the access to and use of land.

Governments can:

Examine field level customary laws that prohibit or override national laws.(Field level

customary laws must be in accordance with national laws)

Amend laws and policies to ensure that women are not dependent on men to access or

control land.

Review traditional and customary laws and structures.

Whenever possible, work to change them to ensure women’s equal access to land in

accordance with national policies and legal frameworks.

Grant joint land titles to women and men.

Give more attention to women displaced from their land, such as those who lose land as a

result of conflicts.

Resettlement strategies should be developed taking into account the perspectives and

needs of both men and women

Other development stakeholders can:

Invest in strengthening local

institutions and structures to increase the representation of poor women in decision-making

related to land and water resources.

Organize training

interventions for women and groups that represent their interests, so that they may

develop their skills to negotiate fair terms of access, and tenure of land and water

resources.

One of the biggest challenges to address gender inequalities in land ownership and tenure is a lack of

sex and gender disaggregated data on land ownership, tenure and use. This is true even in some

countries where systematic and reliable data exist for other aspects. We must strive to promote and

use sex-disaggregated data to inform the formulation of our policy and programmes.


Text-only version

Organize and implement

training in human rights and entitlements for local community structures involved with land

and water issues.

② Water

Land and water issues are closely related, and share many of the same challenges with respect to

gender. As women work both in the field and in the household, they traditionally use water for two

main purposes:

• Irrigation

In many parts of the world, water access is a major consideration in determining land

values. Women farmers often have access only to the least valuable lands; therefore,

their fields may be infertile, dry and far from water sources, or consist of small pieces of

land some distance apart.

• Drinking and for food preparation

Women are usually responsible for food preparation, and water is often their responsibility.

Fetching clean water in rural areas implies hard work, requiring significant expenditure of energy

and time.

Here are some high-level strategies to address gender inequality in the access to and use of water.

Governments can:

Women often lack representation in formal and informal decision-making regarding water

infrastructure improvements or planning for irrigation. It is essential that we involve them as much as

possible and promote their participation in decision-making related to water.


Text-only version

Work together with development stakeholders to establish and maintain sex-disaggregated

land records and data on access to water, along with information on who benefits from

various irrigation schemes and facilities, and on other productive resources - including land.

Work with development stakeholders to maintain water as a public resource.

energy and time.

Other development stakeholders can:

Assess and address the specific water needs of women, and find out about their ideas and

perspectives on water resource management.

Support smallholder farmers to invest in simple and gender-sensitive equipment for small-

scale irrigation, taking into account the division of labour between men and women and

their specific needs (e.g. short-handled hoes for women).

Support communities in developing their capacity for monitoring the effects of climate

change on water availability, and for addressing the specific concerns of women.

Formulate and implement policies and strategies to promote water harvesting, recycling

and storage, with a gender perspective.

Develop innovative water- and labour-saving techniques to harvest rain water, or re-use

water (with the participation of communities, including women and children) and train the

communities in these techniques.

③Livestock

Gender differences are also widespread with respect to access to and ownership of livestock.

Livestock is of vital importance as it provides draught power, fertilizer and pest control in mixed

farming systems, contributing to total farm productivity and, hence, to food security. Livestock are

also important for the stability of food security of rural households serving as an asset, a safety net and

a store of value.


Text-only version

Livestock can also be used as collateral for credit, sold for income or consumed directly in times of crisis,

thus buffering households from external shocks such as the injury or illness of family members who are

thereby prevented from earning an income.

Livestock are key assets in rural areas. In many countries, livestock are one of the most valuable

agricultural assets and represent a source of income and wealth accumulation as well as an important

source of resistance to shocks.

In rural livestock-based economies, women comprise two-thirds (approximately 400 million people) of

low-income livestock keepers.

On average, male-headed households have larger livestock holdings than female-headed households,

and women earn less than men from their livestock holdings.

Women are also much less likely to own large animals, such as cattle and oxen (which are useful as

draught animals) and usually carry out the activities related to small livestock production (i.e. poultry,

sheep, goats), milking and processing of milk.

As a result, it is far more difficult for rural women than for rural men to reach their full potential as

farmers and livestock keepers.

GENDER and NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT for FNS

When we talk about land, water and livestock, we must also consider the whole context of natural

resource management and its gender dimensions. Nowadays, ecosystems have changed rapidly in

response to humanity’s growing demand for resources such as food, water, timber and biofuels.

These rapid changes are degrading natural resources and increasing poverty and food insecurity, adding

to a pre-existing situation of gender inequality in the access to, control and ownership of natural

resources.

Two main issues are of interest to us in this area:

1. Gender inequalities in natural resource management and their consequences;

2. The depletion of natural resource and their different impacts on men and women.

Once again, we find that there are gender inequalities in relation to natural resource management:

• Access to information about natural resource management


Text-only version

Access to technology, training and information about natural resource management remains

highly gendered and largely targeted toward men. Extension workers tend to support male

farmers, and the gender balance among extension personnel is heavily weighted toward men.

• Decision-making for natural resource management

Policies and policy-makers do not have ways to take into account the views and perspectives

of women in natural resource management. Worldwide, women continue to be absent from

decision-making processes related to governance and natural resource use.

• Different roles in managing natural resources

Women and men, boys and girls play different roles in managing natural resources and,

therefore, face different constraints and opportunities. It is essential to understand these roles,

social constraints and expectations in the various contexts.

Resource depletion can lead to conflicts or to new forms of cooperation between different groups,

including between women and men. At the same time, depletion poses a threat to the livelihoods

disproportionately affecting women and female-headed households.

As an example, look at the story told by this Indian woman.

For example In a certain area, the knowledge about and responsibility for various aspects of animal husbandry and livestock production differs between women and men (and between age groups). A woman might be responsible for preventing or treating illness in the household’s livestock; a man, for milking or marketing; boys, for grazing or watering; and girls, for providing fodder to stall-fed animals.

For example…

When our land became infertile, my husband left the village and migrated to the main land. We

were left with only a small plot of land that could still be used. When he left, I had to take over his work in the field, in addition to mine. I needed to take my older girl out of school to help out with all the workload. The problem is, I also had to do the work of my husband, but I could not access the same resources. I could not get credit from the bank, nor sign up for farmer training and I did not qualify for the improved fertilizer distribution. We saw our small agricultural production decline. We had to sell our remaining assets and we could no longer eat on a regular basis.


Text-only version

The recognition of the distinct roles and contributions of women and men smallholder farmers to

agriculture, paying attention to their particular perspectives, is essential to develop sustainable

strategies for the use and management of natural resources.

Here are some possible actions:

Set up community structures for management of natural resources

with adequate representation and effective participation of women (for example, to design and

manage irrigation schemes).

Develop models for common property resource management,

particularly for women’s groups.

Support smallholder farmers, particularly women smallholders, to

innovate, pilot and disseminate sustainable and climate-smart agricultural techniques; (for

example, explore integrated ecological farming techniques that combine fruit trees and other

multi-purpose trees with perennial crops, vegetables and seasonal crops).

Advocate with women’s groups, NGOs and networks so that they

continue or increase their focus on women’s access to natural resources.

Influence large-scale development programmes such as government

programmes to pay greater attention to gender dynamics related to land and other natural

resources.

GENDER AND THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Additional challenges to improve the FNS of men and women farmers come from the negative impacts

of climate change.

Climate change alters the basics of productive ecosystems, such as temperature and rainfall. Extreme

weather events can dramatically reduce productivity in all agricultural sectors, with different effects on

men and women.


Text-only version

Gender inequality is one of the underlying causes of vulnerability to climate change. Here are some

examples of vulnerability of women to effects of climate change.

Agricultural production

When there are shortfalls in food production, women and girls are the first ones to face hunger.

Higher temperatures also result in increases in:

1. Weeds: In many cultures, weeding is a woman’s task, adding to an already overburdened

workload for them.

2. Pests: Women farmers tend to face more constraints in their access to new information or

resources for dealing with them.

Climate change has impacts on livestock (e.g. they produce less milk and there is greater stress on

animals). It also affects the division of labour, as women often take on new tasks and become

responsible for the greater part of the production cycle.

Nutrition

The first effect of climate change on nutrition is the decline in food availability. Other effects are

an increase in waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera, and in vector-borne diseases,

such as malaria and dengue, or animal parasites.

When there are heat and water stresses poor women also have to travel further to collect water,

firewood and fodder, they have to carry heavy loads in the heat or to work harder with fewer

resources, with consequent impacts on women’s health.

If we want to improve FNS in climate change-affected areas in a sustainable and equitable way, we

must understand how both men and women are affected, and their different coping strategies,

knowledge and skills.

Climate is really affecting our crops. Last year, because of early rains, our crops were affected

because seeds could not germinate well in such wet soil. And this year, the monsoon came in so late

that about one-third of my paddy saplings dried up.


Text-only version

Due to climate change, it might no longer be possible to grow some staple crops with a negative

change in the diet, or to have only one harvest a year instead of two.

Forests

Climate change often brings shifts in land use or land cover, leading to fragmentation and

depletion of forests.

The majority of collectors of minor forest produce are women who often depend on forests for food

(i.e. mushrooms, wild fruits, medicinal herbs, spices, small forest animals). The loss of forests will

have a direct impact on their FNS, and on the well-being of the entire household.

Women, especially among indigenous populations, have traditional knowledge linked to forest

biodiversity: the loss of this knowledge will threaten food security for the entire community.

Water

Water resources are affected by climate change, with resulting impacts on FNS. Reduced

availability of fresh water combined with population pressure will mean water scarcity, water stress

and reduced water quality.

With primary responsibility for collecting water for households and livestock, women have to carry

water for longer distances with implications on their time, labour and health. Reduction in water

availability will also affect the specific hygiene needs of women and girls.

Reduced water availability will also impact the house gardens usually cultivated by women. These

are often given lower priority in terms of allocation of water for irrigation, yet lack of water to

gardens will particularly affect the diets of poor households.

Sea level rise

Sea level rise caused by climate change impacts coastal systems, infrastructure and human

settlements.

Fishing communities are the most affected. Coastal inundation, particularly in heavily populated

regions, such as the mega-deltas, will severely affect economies, people and ecosystems such as

mangroves, wetlands and coral reefs.

Rising sea and river water temperatures are likely to affect fish breeding, migration patterns and

harvests.

Men and women in fishing communities will have to find alternative livelihoods and the women

will face particular challenges due to lack of mobility and negotiating skills.


Text-only version

Migration

Many climate change impacts lead to climate-related migration.

As men migrate there is a breakdown in community structures and an increase in female-headed

households. Women from the poorest households have the hardest time identifying new livelihood

opportunities and protecting the family’s FNS. While both men and women migrate, men migrate

farther away and for longer periods than women do.

Even if they have migrated, men are nevertheless considered the ‘head’ of the household, and

therefore women cannot access certain services and productive resources like technology and

credit, and are often excluded from farmers’ organizations.

VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Since one of our goals towards FNS is to reduce vulnerability and increase men’s and women’s

resilience, it is important to understand who is more affected by climate change, and why.

Women are vulnerable to climate change not because of any natural weakness (due to their sex), but

because of socially and culturally constructed roles ascribed to them because of their gender. Given the

severity of gender inequality, especially in developing countries, climate change is likely to magnify

existing gender disadvantages.

Let us consider a few of these factors, as told by Maya, a 30-year-old Nepali widow and mother of

three children.

As reflected in Maya’s story, the major factors in women’s vulnerability are social and cultural rather

than biological or other natural differences between the sexes.

Maya’s story

We’re poor because we do not have enough land, and we don’t get money from anything except

wage labour, but my wages are very low. Whatever I earn is either spent on food or to pay back some of the loans we have taken. Harvests have decreased, water is scarce, insects eat the wheat and rice. But we have nowhere else to go.


Text-only version

In fact, some of the most common vulnerability factors for women are:

women’s limited access to resources;

a gender-based division of labor, which means that women are most affected by climate change

effects on those resources that they are most responsible for, such as water and wood for

household use;

lack of education and access to information by women which means that they possess less usable

knowledge about climate risks and coping mechanisms, and are less able to diversify their

livelihoods in case of need;

limited mobility for women which makes them less able to resort to migration as a coping

mechanism in times of crisis; social norms along with limited education often prevent women from

leaving their homes where climate change has hit the hardest;

limited roles in decision-making which mean that women are often excluded or their opinions

devalued in family and community decision-making processes;

lower capacity to cope with natural disasters which mean that more women die than men when

disasters strike; they are generally less able than men to run, often have not learnt to swim, and

may have behavioral restrictions which limit their mobility.

GENDER-TRANSFORMATIVE APPROACH IN CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

To increase the resilience of men and women to climate change, it is vital that we use a gendered and

participatory approach, working with both sexes to identify the gender-transformative activities that

can be included in our adaptation initiatives.

Here is an example of what may happen if we do not consider the needs of both women and men.

As a result of a project aimed at increasing the resilience to climate change by diversifying sources of income in a sub-Saharan rural area, women's workload increased considerably:

I am the only one who works in my family. My husband died and my two children are too small

to help. Extension workers taught us how to produce more than we need, and sell it in the main market, but I don't have experience in sales.

My husband used to transport the produce to the main town, sell it and manage the money.

Now, I am working more, have less time to care for my children, I don't know how to manage the sales

and I don't see the benefits of all this.

asfunction:_level0.showPopup,486_6


Text-only version

What should happen instead?

In this case, planners should have found out in a participatory manner what the specific needs

and priorities of men and women were. On the basis of the participatory and gender analyses,

they could have designed the project responses to:

• strengthen women's skills in managing and saving money;

• develop women's skills in business, entrepreneurship, marketing and finance;

• support men’s and women's self-help groups for processing, marketing, transporting and

sharing market information;

• organize informal education of illiterate women and girls.

Adaptation and mitigation

• Adaption Adaptation measures deal with the impacts of climate change and have the

objective of reducing the vulnerability of human and natural systems.

• Mitigation Mitigation addresses the causes of the problem, which involves reducing

greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere.

Some of the most significant actions, that can be taken to render an adaptation project gender

responsive are:

Wars, natural disasters and related crisis situations have profoundly different impacts

on women, girls, boys and men.

Women and men need different kinds of support to reduce the risks they face, adapt to change, cope

with the aftermath of disasters and rebuild their lives and livelihoods.


Text-only version

They can carry out a comprehensive, participatory and gender-sensitive analysis of

vulnerability to climate change.

They can build on the existing knowledge and capacities of men, women, boys and girls.

They can address the specific needs of men and women.

They can encourage participation of both women and men, including the most

vulnerable groups in the community.

They can provide training for both women and men in methods for coping with climate

change.

We just mentioned the importance of using men’s and women’s knowledge in adapting to

climate change.

In many cultures in the developing world, due to gender-based role differentiation, women

have a deeper understanding of their local environment with experience in managing natural

resources (water, forests, biodiversity and soil) and involvement in climate-sensitive work such

as farming, forestry and fisheries.

This indigenous knowledge is extremely important for managing adaptation to climate change.

For example…

crop diversification and the preservation of indigenous crop varieties hold the potential to

support adaptation to climate change and provide nutritional benefits.

These are areas where the contributions of women farmers are prominent.

Here are two concrete examples.

FAO’s Links project in the United Republic of Tanzania found that women play a significant role in

maintaining agrobiodiversity, particularly of neglected and minor crops, and that they also have

indigenous knowledge of collected crops. Although important for household food security in

drought-prone areas and in times of food scarcity, such crops are neither well developed nor

supported through the existing national seed management system.

The Gene Campaign in India promotes gene seed banks, where women involved in self-help

groups conserve agricultural biodiversity by collecting and multiplying varieties of legumes,

oilseeds and vegetables. This project identified useful genetic traits, revived under-utilized crops

and also provided training in the processing of minor forest produce and locally available fruits

and vegetables.

asfunction:_level0.showPopup,502_16


Text-only version

GENDER AND FNS DURING EMERGENCIES

To conclude our overview of the gender dimensions of FNS, let us consider how gender is linked to FNS

during emergencies. There are differences in women’s and men’s vulnerability to disasters, and they

play different roles in resilience building. Why does gender matter to FNS in crisis situations?

In more detail, gender matters because:

Women and men have different responsibilities and roles related to FNS and they experience risks

differently.

For example, women and men are often responsible for different crops or livestock species. The

fields they farm may be in different locations and affected differently by the crisis. Women may

lose access to areas from which they source water or fuel. During times of crises, their mobility

decreases, affecting their coping ability and their capacity to secure or prepare food.

Women and men each have specific vulnerabilities in crisis situations and may act differently when

in immediate danger. The impacts of a crisis on FNS cannot be understood without assessing these

differences.

Gender roles change over time and in response to crisis.

These changes can create significant tensions between women and men that may contribute to

gender-based violence, which may continue beyond the crisis.

For example… … in the 2005 tsunami, in some parts of Indonesia and Sri Lanka, up to 80 percent of those who died were women. In contrast, in situations of armed conflicts, young men are more often the primary victims. Therefore, it is essential to understand the local sociocultural context and to address the specific needs of men and women of different age in building their resilience.


Text-only version

Gender-based violence can have profound effects on FNS because of altered power relations, shifts

in self-confidence, and changes in roles, decision-making power and influence at household or

community levels.

Power dynamics may shift.

In addition to differential needs and impacts, power dynamics may also change during a crisis.

For example, women may take on new roles to fill a vacuum left by men, while men may not be

able to play their traditional role of breadwinner.

These changes can profoundly affect women’s and men’s ability to get support and to maintain or

recover FNS.

Women and men voice different issues and highlight different concerns.

Strategies to address barriers and develop solutions for FNS will need to draw on the different

perspectives, especially around issues related to food, water, hygiene and care of children.

Women and men have different access to information about risks.

Women often do not enjoy the same access to information about hazards as men do:

it is important to understand and address these differences in developing disaster preparedness

strategies, and in designing early warning systems.

For example, you could disseminate information through local radio to reach illiterate women and men.

Example from India

To begin to consider the possible strategies for a gender-sensitive approach to FNS during

emergencies, consider the case below:

In India, thousands of women farmers were mobilized 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 decentralized public distribution system.

Pearl millet is the most drought-tolerant of major staples.

The actions that contributed to gender-sensitive adaptation were:

Taking advantage of women’s knowledge.

Promoting the role of women as advocates of change.

In fact, at local level mitigation and adaptation projects, women can also play a key role as

advocates for change. In the example, women’s knowledge for adaptation added significant value

to the activities in terms of increased resilience.

Over many years, women smallholders have demonstrated the potential of millets to contribute to


Text-only version

Creating an enabling environment for disaster risk reduction and management

More examples include:

• develop national legislation for risk reduction for food and agricultural systems, that is gender sensitive and responds to the specific needs of men and women. This should be integrated into related policies such as agriculture and rural development, natural resource management, food safety, etc.; • carry out capacity development for implementation of gender-sensitive risk reduction

Strategies for gender-sensitive approaches to FNS during emergencies:

Creating an enabling environment for disaster risk reduction and management

Organize training activities to empower women to identify their households’

specific vulnerabilities and plan for disasters.

Implementing gender-sensitive early warning systems

Apply communication and information technology to early warning systems that

are accessible to women.

Enhancing preparedness to threats to FNS in a gender-sensitive way

Include in accountability systems the feedback from women participants in

response to a humanitarian crisis.


Text-only version

approaches across agriculture-related sectors (e.g. community-based Disaster Risk Reduction, sustainable land-use planning, etc.); • build on women’s knowledge for managing disaster risks and climate change adaptation for FNS; • strengthen traditional institutions and knowledge, and promote exchange between communities, with adequate women’s representation and active participation; • involve both women and men in disaster risk management activities, including hazard mapping, planning and implementation of mitigation measures; • introduce innovative instruments for risk reduction (such as crop insurance) that are gender-sensitive and accessible to both women and men. Implement gender-sensitive early warning systems More examples include: • involve women and men at every level in the design and monitoring of early warning threats to FNS. • harmonize early warning threats to FNS across sectors and link across levels. Creating an enabling environment for disaster risk reduction and management More examples include: • ensure that preparedness plans include assessment of FNS using methods that pay attention to the needs and perceptions of both women and men, boys and girls, and take into account gender relations in the local context (ensuring sex and age disaggregated data); • promote gender sensitization of agricultural preparedness plans at all levels (household, community, regional, national); • ensure the availability of gender-balanced assessment and response teams for FNS assessments.

CONCLUSIONS

We have considered how gender inequalities and food and nutrition insecurity are inextricable parts of

the vicious cycle of poverty. Gender inequality can be a cause as well as an effect of hunger and

malnutrition: agriculture, nutrition, health and gender are interlinked, and can be mutually reinforcing.

Therefore, it is important to understand and address the specific needs of those men and women who

depend on agriculture, to identify their different priorities and to take advantage of their diverse

potential.


Text-only version

SUMMARY

• There is a connection between gender equality and FNS: countries with the most severe gender

inequalities face the highest level of hunger.

• In fact, women make significant contributions across all four pillars of FNS, and the gender gap

in access to resources and services results in negative impacts on food availability, access,

utilization and stability.

• Similarly, the systems defining access to and use of natural resources are often pervaded by

inequalities because of cultural traditions and discriminatory legal practices. The recognition of

the distinct roles and contributions of women and men smallholder farmers to agriculture, and

attention to their particular perspectives are essential to develop sustainable strategies for the

use and management of natural resources.

• To increase the resilience of men and women to climate change we must understand how both

men and women are affected, and their different coping strategies, knowledge and skills. We

need to use a gendered and participatory approach, working with both of them to identify the

gender-transformative activities that can be included in adaptation activities.

• Wars, natural disasters and related crisis situations have profoundly different impacts on

women, men, girls and boys. Women and men need different kinds of support to reduce the

risks they face, to adapt to change, to cope with the aftermath of disasters and to rebuild their

lives and livelihoods.

Documents

Gender dimensions of food and nutrition security (FSN) · Gender dimensions of food and nutrition security (FSN) ... adequate health, education and care. The term FNS combines these