FAO Brussels celebrates “women food heroes” and calls for end to gender gaps
The FAO Liaison Office Brussels celebrated International Women’s Day with calls to the global community to focus on removing barriers that hold back women’s contribution to food security. This year’s International Women’s Day was observed virtually on 8 March, with a joint event in Brussels and Nairobi to celebrate women involved in development cooperation and the agri-food production chain and to discuss obstacles that women face in various fields, including agricultural entrepreneurship.
With the theme, “Women leading change and breaking biases – Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow,” International Women’s Day 2022 highlighted the achievement of gender equality and empowerment in the context of development, while drawing attention to the many gender-based challenges that still remain.
Together with the Director of the UN Women Brussels Office, the FAO representatives in Kenya, Brussels and Rome emphasized the need to narrow the persistent gender gaps that consign women to poor pay for equal labour, lack of access to finance, and social and cultural norms that affect women’s labour productivity, especially in agriculture.
“We commemorate this day fully aware of the persistent gender gaps facing women in the food production chain. Women are our food heroes,” said Raschad Al-Khafaji, Director of the FAO Liaison Office in Brussels.
“Gender equality, diversity and inclusion are crucial to FAO’s mandate. FAO plays a central role in supporting efforts, generating knowledge, and promoting innovative solutions to address gender-based discrimination that still holds back women and girls,” he added.
In celebrating International Women’s Day, FAO aims to recognize the contribution of women as critical agents of change in the global agri-food supply chains. FAO will continue to strive to improve women’s participation in and access to sustainable labour practices and techniques to improve agricultural sustainability in developing countries, said Al-Khafaji.
The Director of the UN Women Brussels Office, Dagmar Schumacher joined FAO Representative in Kenya Carla Mucavi in marking the event, ahead of a lively panel discussion.
“Without gender equality today, a sustainable and equal future remains beyond our reach,” said Schumacher. “UN Women looks forward to continue working hand in hand with FAO in a more equal world – not only on International Women’s Day, but 365 days a year.”
FAOR Mucavi observed that while International Women’s Day presents an opportunity to celebrate successes, it is also a call to action to address the constraints that confront women worldwide.
She added that FAO was working with state agencies in Kenya to improve access to land rights for women, as well as to other key resources such as bank loans. “Through our country programmes, we support women, who are the major food producers,” said Mucavi. “As a result, the number of women who have access to land title deeds in Kenya has increased significantly.”
Encouraging experiences, but challenges remain
Other women who addressed the virtual celebration talked about significant challenges, including entrenched prejudices, which affect the provision of services to local communities.
Member of the European Parliament and of the European Parliamentary Alliance against Hunger and Malnutrition María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos highlighted the need to improve access to land rights, labour-saving tools and digital literacy in order to achieve a world without hunger. “We are at a critical point in history, and we need to be up to the challenge,” she declared.
The Director of the FAO Project Support Division Minà Dowlatchahi offered personal examples of the discrimination she had faced in her own life. “This is why International Women’s Day is so important,” Dowlatchahi asserted. “Because it allows everyone to not just fight it, but also to be aware and mindful of the double standards that women face.”
Hubbie Hussein, Commissioner of the Kenyan National Land Commission, shared the difficulties she faced as a child in acquiring education and the prejudices she later encountered as a veterinarian within her pastoralist community in Kenya.
Mary Mariach, a Kenyan agricultural entrepreneur, pointed to the growing number of women enjoying top corporate-, state- and national-level appointments as a significant step in empowering women. But she also observed that in her country, most women are unable to attend community gatherings where the issue of land tenure is discussed.
Ugandan agripreneur Joan Rukundo Nalubega, whose company makes and distributes mosquito-repellent soap products, said that women were often discouraged by lack of confidence in their ability to deliver significant returns on their own investments. She cited difficulty in securing bank loans and using land as collateral to obtain finance for business expansion.
The Assistant-Secretary-General of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Cristelle Pratt closed the event, thanking participants for highlighting the crucial role of women in today’s societies, as well as some of the biases that they had themselves experienced. “We must be able to recognize and realize the role and concrete contributions of women,” she said. “If we fail to do this, we will miss an enormous opportunity to capture the full potential of our productive workforce to build resilience and sustainability.”