At inaugural DialogueNEXT, FAO advocates for more investments in gender equality and women’s empowerment in agrifood systems for food security
At DialogueNextDC (l to r): Hale Ann Tufan, Tambra Raye Stevenson, Dina Esposito, Maria Rose Belding, Jocelyn Brown Hall
Washington, DC –Tackling global hunger will require taking decisive actions on gender inequality and women’s empowerment, which are among the main challenges to global food and nutrition security. Although women play a crucial role in agriculture, contributing to local economies and to household food security, they still face many gaps and constraints to maximize their agricultural productivity.
Recognizing the crucial role women play in global food security, The World Food Prize Foundation brought together an array of food systems stakeholders from government and multilateral organizations, including the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for the launch of DialogueNEXT under the theme “Seeds of Equity: Women Driving Growth and Innovation in Agriculture”.
During a panel discussion highlighting the significance of "Investing in the Next Generation," moderated by Jocelyn Brown Hall, Director of FAO's Liaison Office for North America, women food security advocates, including Assistant to the Administrator of the Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security (REFS), Dina Esposito; Founding Executive Director and Board Chair of Food Recovery, Maria Rose Belding; Founder and CEO of WANDA and NativSol Kitchen, Tambra Raye Stevenson; and the 2019 Borlaug Field Award Recipient and Associate Professor at Cornell University, Hale Ann Tufan, provided insights.
In her opening remarks, Director Brown Hall called on stakeholders to promote gender equality and women's empowerment in agrifood systems to build a food secure and peaceful world. “It is time to change course and scale up our ambitions and efforts. FAO's report has shown that intentional and transformative interventions that focus on empowering women could increase the incomes of an additional 58 million people and the resilience of an additional 235 million people,” she explained.
Ms. Brown Hall highlighted FAO’s efforts to address discriminatory social gender norms and empower women in agrifood systems. She mentioned ongoing initiatives, including the Joint Programme on Gender Transformative Approaches for Food Security and Nutrition in Malawi and Ecuador as well as the recent ‘Commit to Grow Equality’ global initiative launched at this year's session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
Referring to findings from the FAO 2023 “Status of Women in Agrifood Systems” report, USAID's Dina Esposito underscored, “If you gave women access to the same resources in the agrifood system, the same tools and resources as men, we could unlock $1 trillion in global GDP. That makes it not just the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do.”
Through DialogueNEXT, the World Food Prize Foundation aims to extend its yearly convenings to diverse food security advocates at the state, national and global levels while retracing Dr. Borlaug’s footsteps through the Green Revolution.
“By bringing together experts, policymakers and advocates, we hope to foster innovative solutions and drive progress towards eliminating world hunger,” said Terry Branstad, President, World Food Prize Foundation. “The DialogueNEXT series offers a new platform to discuss food insecurity while reflecting on the efforts of those who have come before us.”
FAO and the World Food Prize Foundation have a longstanding partnership, with the UN agency participating at its annual Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue. Known as the “Borlaug Dialogue,” this three-day conference gathers world leaders and top experts in development, agriculture, economic policy, resource management and nutrition – all inspired by the historic legacy of Norman Borlaug and the achievements of the World Food Prize Laureates in fighting global hunger. This year, the Borlaug Dialogue is scheduled for October 29-31.
Report
The Status of Women in Agrifood Systems
The status of women in agrifood systems report uses extensive new data and analyses to provide a comprehensive picture of women’s participation, benefits, and challenges they face working in agrifood systems globally. The report shows how increasing women’s empowerment and gender equality in agrifood systems enhances women’s well-being and the well-being of their households, creating opportunities for economic growth, greater incomes, productivity and resilience. The report comes more than a decade after the publication of the State of food and agriculture (SOFA) 2010–11: Women in agriculture – Closing the gender gap for development. SOFA 2010–11 documented the tremendous costs of gender inequality not only for women but also for agriculture and the broader economy and society, making the business case for closing existing gender gaps in accessing agricultural assets, inputs and services. Moving beyond agriculture, "The status of women in agrifood systems" reflects not only on how gender equality and women’s empowerment are central to the transition towards sustainable and resilient agrifood systems but also on how the transformation of agrifood systems can contribute to gender equality and women’s empowerment. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the available evidence on gender equality and women’s empowerment in agrifood systems that has been produced over the last decade. The report also provides policymakers and development actors with an extensive review of what has worked, highlighting the promise of moving from closing specific gender gaps towards the adoption of gender-transformative approaches that explicitly address the formal and informal structural constraints to equality. It concludes with specific recommendations on the way forward. Last update 03/08/2023