Agriculture development plays an essential role in improving nutrition. In many development countries, women play a major role in agricultural production, a critical component of food security – women farmers bring to bear valuable knowledge in seed selection, vegetative propagation and the reproduction of plants and animals. A growing body of evidence in international development establishes that gender equality at the household and community levels leads to superior agricultural and development outcomes, including increases in farm productivity and improvements in family nutrition.
There is currently need to establish an effective agricultural extension services for food and nutrition security, health and to achieve a range of rural development goals. It helps to reduce poverty through improved nutrition and increasing family income through increased and improved agricultural production primarily for women and their children in developing countries.
Extension services help farmers to access information on technologies, markets, inputs, and finance, and upgrade their farming and managerial skills.
Urgent efforts are required to:
- enhance women’s and men’s access to and knowledge about new agricultural technologies;
- ensure that farmers and other actors in value chains can deal with changing markets;
- enable farmers to adapt to new climate change challenges;
- support rural communities to manage their natural resources more effectively;
- assist farmers to make optimal use of their available resources to ensure access to food and income for their families.
女士 Lola Gaparova