Gender equality vital for eradicating hunger and poverty

Windhoek. Gender equality is pivotal to eradicating hunger and poverty, which is FAO's mandate. To enhance gender equality and women's empowerment in the agricultural sector, FAO commissioned Gender and Rural Development Trust (GERUDE) in Namibia. GERUDE conducted country gender assessment in Namibia during the first two weeks of August.

Speaking at a validation workshop to review results of GERUDE, FAO Representative to Namibia, Babagana Ahmadu, underlined the importance of gender equality to food security. "Gender equality is critical for achieving food and nutrition security for all by raising levels of nutrition, improving agricultural productivity and natural resource management and improving the lives of the rural population. Gender equality is also central to the Republic of Namibia's mandate as stipulated in the country constitution and the National Gender Policy," he said.

Mainstreaming Gender for Improved Agricultural Growth
GERUDE, implemented with technical support from the Sub-regional Office for Southern Africa (SFS) and financial assistance from USAID/OFDA, analysed the agricultural sector from a gender perspective at three levels, that is, the macro (policy), meso (institutional) and micro (community and household) level in order to identify gender inequalities in access to critical productive resources, assets, services and opportunities and identify needs and constraints of both women and men in FAO areas of focus.
Additionally, GERUDE provides recommendations and guidance that will promote gender sensitivity of future FAO programming including policy and technical advice in line with national priorities and identifies possible partners for gender-related activities. The results will facilitate FAO's contribution to the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) reporting and to the United Nations Partnership Framework (UNPAF) formulation.

The Workshop
Participants to the workshop were senior management from government ministries, UN agencies, academia and non-governmental organizations involved in food and nutrition security, agriculture and rural sector development. The workshop was also addressed by the Pan-African Women's Organization for Southern Africa Region (PAWO-SARO)'s Executive Secretary, Ambassador Mildred Jankjies, who emphasized the need to empower women, particularly young women. She added that empowering would translate to empowering the community. FAO's Policy on Gender Equality identifies gender mainstreaming and women's targeted actions as a twofold strategy for achievement of gender equality in the agriculture and rural sector.

More information:
Dr. Babagana Ahmadu, Country Representative, FAO Namibia
Ms. Beata Negumbo, Programme Assistant, FAO Namibia
Ms. Gertrude Kara, Regional HIV, Gender and Nutrition Officer, FAO Sub-regional Office for Southern Africa