FAO presents gender equality work at a meeting of the Committee of Rural Women in Moscow

On 14 May, the regular meeting of the Committee of Rural Women of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture was held in Moscow. Officer-in-Charge of FAO’s Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, Aghasi Harutyunyan outlined FAO’s work on tackling rural gender inequality in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Generation and analysis of sex-disaggregated data is essential for evidence-based policy development. National, global and sectoral policies, programmes, legislation and investment plans for food security and nutrition do not always capture women’s role and contribution, and therefore fail to respond to their specific needs and challenges”, Harutyunyan noted.

FAO data shows that, worldwide, 75 percent of poor and food insecure people rely on agriculture and natural resources for their living, and family farming supports the livelihoods of up to 2.5 billion people. Rural women make up about 43 percent of the agricultural labour force.

Women fulfil important roles throughout agrifood value chains, and play a key role in ensuring food security and nutrition at household and community level, and in the management of natural resources, such as land and water.

Yet, across regions, rural women face even greater constraints than their male counterparts in accessing essential productive resources and services, technology, market information and financial assets.

“Ensuring equal access to productive resources, climate-smart and labour-saving technologies and practices is at the core of FAO’s approach to enhance the sustainability of agriculture,” Harutyunyan pointed out

“It is in full conformity with the principle of “leaving no-one behind”. Achieving gender equality is an essential condition for attaining food security and nutrition and meeting all 17 Sustainable Development Goals,” Aghasi Harutyunyan concluded.

Irina Gekht, the Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee for Agrarian and Food Policy and Environmental Management, moderated the forum.

Maxim Borovoy, Director of the Department of Rural Development of the Ministry of Agriculture; Konstantin Laikam, Deputy Head of the Russian Federal State Statistics Service; academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Petrikov, Head of the All-Russian Institute of Agrarian Issues and Informatics after A.A. Nikonov; Olga Gai, Deputy Head of the “Spatial Development” Section of the Center for Strategic Development (CSR); Ekaterina Kalabikhina, financial analyst at  “Rusmoloko” LLC agricultural holding; Oleg Mironenko, Executive Director of the National Union of Producers and Consumers of Organic Products; Sergey Kharakhashyan, head of the educational center of OMOO “Russian Union of Rural Youth”; and Brigitte Scherb, President of the Union of Rural Women of Germany.

The discussion focused on the Russian government’s programme for the comprehensive development of rural areas, currently under elaboration. The speakers identified problems and offered solutions to improve the living conditions of the rural population that would help create a comfortable social and economic environment for rural women.