Women as agents of change for a more sustainable agri-food system

Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and of the European Parliamentary Alliance against Hunger and Malnutrition María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos has launched a new project, and a book of the same title, Mujeres al Frente. The launch event, held in Madrid on 13 October saw interventions by different women who are at the forefront of their causes, including Marcela Villarreal, Director of the FAO Partnerships and UN Collaboration Division.

Other speakers included Inés Arrimadas, President of Cuidadanos; Massouda Kohistani, Afghan activist, journalist and refugee; Rocío Nieto, founder of the Association for Prevention, Reinsertion and Care of Prostituted Women.

Both the event and the project share the goal of highlighting the role of women at the forefront, as dynamic leaders of a wide variety of causes, and of giving a voice and an opportunity for women to tell their stories.

MEP Rodríguez Ramos thanked FAO for its contributions and support during the writing process of Mujeres al Frente, which includes profiles of female members of Parliamentary Alliances from different regions of the world. She spoke about the network of alliances throughout the world, originally launched in Latin America, and now active in many regions, including the European Union, through the European Parliamentary Alliance against Hunger and Malnutrition. “Parliamentary Alliances are a space of inclusion where parliamentarians of all political parties are united in working jointly towards the right to food as a priority,” she told the gathering.

Marcela Villarreal underscored the importance of political will in bringing about tangible change. She gave the example of the creation of Parliamentary Alliances around the globe which have enabled the drafting of laws on a range of important topics, including the right to food, school nutrition and agro-ecology.

Villarreal stressed that women’s empowerment is fundamental to eradicate hunger and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. She reminded the audience that although women account for more than 50 percent of the labour force in agriculture, they face obstacles to accessing land, production resources and information, among other barriers.

”Equal access to these resources for women and men could contribute to reducing hunger for more than 100 million people and would have positive effects for the whole society,” she concluded.

You can read more about Mujeres al Frente here.

You can read more about FAO’s work on gender here.