Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

This member contributed to:

    • Thanks for the opportunity to share feedback from World Vision Australia; the notes below come largely from Gayathri Jayadevan (Snr Advisor on Women's Economic Empowerment).

      The problem statements are presented with comprehensive analysis, however the policy areas for consideration lack articulation and Part 4 on implementation and monitoring of the use and application of the voluntary guidelines is presented over half a page (as an afterthought), and from an implementation and monitoring perspective which a lot of the target audience are, both of these areas could use more depth and practical guidance – for example, key performance indicators, perhaps as a next version to the guidelines?

      A few other minor points for consideration:

      Page 4 - The rationale speaks of women as active agents in food system but does not fully recognise that women produce 60-80% of food in developing countries and are responsible for half the world’s food production while working in the informal, most precarious, vulnerable sectors yet their key role as food producers, providers and contributors is unrecognised, unpaid, invisible. It might add value to explore the extent of vulnerability of women’s role in the food system, rather than merely recognising them in the food system.

      Page 8-9 – Women’s participation, voice and leadership in policy and decision-making at all levels does not fully recognise the important role women have in influencing decision making at household level. Although the problem analysis highlights this and women’s decision making in relation to food security is later recognised (in page 21, 123 iii), the power to influence household decision making overall (in financial and non-financial domains) is an important precedent to making informed choices on food security, and this needs highlighting in 3.1 i-iv.

      Page 14-18 – Women’s economic empowerment in the context of sustainable food systems does not fully recognise that women are time-poor, have high-labour demands and are resource-poor (particularly in urban settings / living with disability), and this together with climate change impacts mean investments in food systems need to happen in non-traditional sectors that demand less time, less labour and less resource dependency, i.e. bee keeping, mushrooms were highlighted by FAO as emerging sectors for gender transformative climate resilient food production, yet these don’t get a mention in addition to farm-based activities in 3.5.2.

      A more thorough exploration of how women are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and the gender-specific challenges of climate change adaptation, would better integrate these Voluntary Guidelines with COP26, SDGs and NDCs. For instance, women in many poor contexts are more vulnerable to climate change due to both their reduced ability to adapt (e.g. they are less able to migrate, like men) and their lack of decision-making power in regards to climate adaptation. Similarly, household energy consumption is a further dimension on gender equality; in poor rural contexts, women (and girls) are expected to gather fuelwood and are more exposed to risks from sexual violence while out of the house, or to indoor air pollution or fire in the house; this also influences their ability to provide food or income for the family. These linkages could be further enhanced in the Guidelines.

      Lastly: overall, and throughout the guidelines, the urban-rural disparity could be better explored as well as disability inclusion and gender diversity – the latter being the most vulnerable and food insecure of all genders.