Europe and Central Asia gender newsletter, March 2024 – Issue #13

01/03/2024

This issue reports on the latest developments in gender equality and women's empowerment through the celebration of the International Day of Rural Women in the region, the 43rd session of the European Commission on Agriculture, FAO activities and projects in the Western Balkans and regional workshops organised in Georgia and Türkiye. 6 p.

Summary: The Unjust Climate

01/03/2024

Measuring the impacts of climate change on the rural poor, women and youths report assembles an impressive set of data from 24 low- and middle-income countries in five world regions to measure the effects of climate change on rural women, youths and people living in poverty. It analyses socioeconomic data collected from 109 341 rural households (representing over 950 million rural people) in these 24 countries. 16 pp.

Armed conflict and gendered participation in agrifood systems: Survey evidence from 29 African countries

01/02/2024

This paper provides empirical microlevel evidence on the gendered impacts of armed conflict on economic activity in agriculture and other sectors, combining large-N sex-disaggregated survey data with temporally and spatially disaggregated conflict event data from 29 African countries. We find that local conflict exposure is only weakly related to labour-force participation, but strongly reduces the total number of hours worked and increases engagement in the agricultural sector. 45 p.

Gender gap in agricultural labour productivity: A cross-country comparison

01/02/2024

This paper's findings reveal varying gender gaps across the sampled countries, ranging from 47 percent in Nigeria and the United Republic of Tanzania to 2 percent in Ethiopia, which is the only country with no significant gender gap in labour productivity. On average, the gender gap amounts to 35 percent, with the largest portion (27 percent) attributed to the endowment effect. This background paper was prepared to inform Chapter 2 of FAO’s report on The status of women in agrifood systems. 44p.

Gender-sensitive income-generating activities in the Niger

01/01/2024

From 2017 to 2023, with support from the Government of Canada, the United Nations Rome-based agencies (RBA) – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) – implemented a joint pilot initiative to increase resilience in food security and nutrition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Niger and Somalia. 14 p.

Women’s employment in agrifood systems

01/12/2023

Tackling poverty and food insecurity requires research and policies that go beyond the agriculture sector and consider the entire agrifood system. Women play important roles in agrifood systems, but their work in the different segments of agrifood systems is poorly captured. 33 pp.

Bangladesh: National gender profile of agriculture and rural livelihood (Country Gender Assessment Series)

01/12/2023

Women account for about half of the agricultural workforce and over 63 percent of the rural female workforce is engaged in agriculture in Bangladesh (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics [BBS], 2018). Under the leadership of the Government of Bangladesh, the country has made significant progress towards gender equality and advancing the status of women and girls, particularly in education and health care. 144 p.

Lebanon: Country gender spotlight

03/11/2023

The Country gender spotlight Lebanon, is part of a series that puts a spotlight on countries, showcasing examples of initiatives that have improved the lives of rural people and empowered rural women. It highlights some of the good practices the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has carried out with the Government of Lebanon and other partners, to promote gender equality and build the resilience and economic empowerment of rural women.