INTERNATIONAL: Women in Agriculture - Gender Gaps Are Holding Back Development

On the occasion of the 100th celebration of International Women's Day, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) presented a surprising and alarming assessment of the situation of rural women, based on a comprehensive analysis of men and women farmers around the world.

Female-headed households are not necessarily poorer than male-headed households.

In its annual report "The State of Food and Agriculture 2010-2011," which focuses on "Women in agriculture: Closing the gap in development," FAO reveals that women farmers have unequal access to and use of a wide range of agricultural resources -including land, livestock, and mechanical tools-, inputs -such as fertilisers, pesticides, and improved seeds-, and financial and extension services -such as agricultural credits and technical know-how and training.

What is new and surprising about this assessment is that it found that, although in varying degrees of intensity, this imbalance is observed in every region of the planet and is repeated under different national, cultural, political, and religious conditions.

When these gender gaps in access and use are considered in light of several field studies that provide solid evidence that women are not intrinsically less productive than male farmers, it is evident that this unfair distribution of assets and resources affects production.

The UN agency's report estimates that if women had the same access to agricultural assets, inputs, and services as men they could increase yields on their farms, and this increase could raise total agricultural output in developing countries by roughly 2.5 to 4 percent.

Moreover, such a growth in agricultural production could in turn bring 100 to 150 million people out of hunger - that is about 12 to 17 percent of the 925 million undernourished people that exist in the world according to FAO's latest estimates.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the issue of rural women has traditionally been left out of gender and policy debates.

However, in recent decades there have been profound economic and social changes with lasting implications. As in cities, more and more women living in rural areas have abandoned unpaid domestic work, including family farming, to enter the labour market as farm labourers and workers in industries directly or indirectly connected with agriculture.

This significant transformation in social and economic conditions does not only affect job markets, it has also changed rural households, as it has empowered women, who now have a greater say in decision-making.

There has also been an improvement in family welfare indicators such as nutrition and education, as a result not only of the additional income women bring in, but also of the fact that when women have greater control over household budgets, a significantly larger share of income is spent on food, health, and education.

These are all welcome changes, as they improve the well being of women, their children, and their homes, and lead nations to make better use of its human resources, both male and female.

There is still much to be done, however.

While the proportion of crops controlled by women in the region has grown notoriously, women farmers in Latin America, as in other parts of the planet, have less land than men and a limited access to other agricultural resources, services, and inputs.

Closing this gender gap is in everyone's interest.

The recipe is fairly universal. In the first place it requires eliminating all forms of legal discrimination. But it is not just a matter of legislation, as government, judicial, and law enforcement officers need to be trained to deal with gender differences.

Lastly, non-discrimination cannot exist merely on paper. Efforts need to be directed towards raising awareness of the gender-specific obstacles faced by women, including the time constraints imposed by their double role of workers/producers and heads of household. Also, more public and private services, such as extension and credits, need to be easily available to women farmers.