Kostas Stamoulis, FAO Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Development Department, talks about the importance of women's empowerment and gender equality in rural communities, underlining the essential role of policy work.
Local banks, NGOs and public institutions worked closely to ensure that women could access loans, join associations and have their voices be heard in collective decision-making processes. It also allowed these women and their communities to make collective investments that would increase their production, stabilize and diversify their nutrition, and ultimately achieve a better life.
Learn about the Women’s Empowerment Farmer Business Schools (WE-FBS) implemented in Kenya through FAO’s Flexible Multi-Partner Mechanism (FMM). The approach prompts men and women to reflect critically on their roles, resources, and activities in farming, and to develop strategies that are needed to maximize their commercial potential.
In Chadakori, Niger, the Dimitra clubs offered training sessions on composting techniques. Trained farmers were asked to share their knowledge to 5,000 attendees, 60% of which were women. Almost 800 compost pits were built, producing 20 tons of organic matter, introdcuing cost-savings and boosting the richness of farm fields. The FMM subprogramme inspired radio stations to broadcast the results, motivating other villages to also learn about composting. Thanks to the support of the FMM, FAO is promoting inclusive community engagement and women’s empowerment in Africa.
This year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) falls at a time where women across the globe are being disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The fisheries and aquaculture sectors have been particularly affected by the crisis. Although the data are limited, a significant amount of the workforce in these sectors is comprised of women. Most women carry out non-vessel based activities, including gleaning, processing and marketing, but the number of women in leadership positions is low.
This event launches a new phase of the JP RWEE that will even further enhance its holistic approach to advancing rural women’s economic empowerment by integrating a climate resilience lens to tackle deep rooted social norms which limit women’s participation and leadership in rural communities including through applying gender transformative approaches.
This event, co-organised by the UfM, FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (FAO RNE) and CIHEAM, aims to raise awareness on the gender-differentiated impacts of climate change on agri-food systems, and on the interventions that are needed to address them, build women and girls’ resilience, and unleash their potential to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts.
The world’s population is likely to reach 9 billion by the middle of this century. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) believes that 60 per cent more food will be needed by 2050 to sustain all these people. Where possible, this food should be produced where it is needed – in developing countries.
La population mondiale atteindra probablement les neuf milliards de personnes d’ici le milieu du siècle. Selon les estimations de l’Organisation des Nations unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO), il faudrait augmenter la production alimentaire de 60 pour cent pour les nourrir. Ces produits alimentaires supplémentaires devraient dans l’idéal être produits là où ils sont censés être consommés, c’està-dire dans les pays en développement. Pour y parvenir, ces pays doivent augmenter sensiblement leur production.
IFAD’s technical assistance programme INSURED (Insurance for rural resilience and economic development) has been building knowledge about how to strengthen women producers’ access to climate risk insurance. Working with partners, INSURED supported research, and fieldwork in Ethiopia including group discussions with smallholders about insurance options. A checklist was drawn up for insurance designers and implementers to help them reach out to women every step of the way.