Across the developing countries of Asia and the Pacific, women provide 43 percent of labour in the agricultural sector, yet their outputs are not equally appreciated or rewarded – a situation which must be addressed, an FAO convened regional workshop heard today.

‘The Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on Challenges and Opportunities towards Rural Women’s Empowerment: agrarian transformations and the changing role of women in agriculture and food systems,’ aims to stimulate discussion on gender equality and rural women’s economic empowerment in the context of the ongoing agrarian transformations. Participants from 20 countries, along with representatives of farmers’ organizations, CSOs, UN agencies and development partners have joined the meeting.

“Women make great contributions to rural livelihoods and well-being of their families,” said Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative. “Across the region, rural women have major responsibilities in food production, sale and procurement, food preparation and distribution, family food and nutrition security, as well as child rearing and care giving.

“Yet rural women still face significant constraints, in terms of access to productive resources, access to credit, training, assets and opportunities. That limits their autonomy and ability to fully realize their human and productive potential,” said Konuma. “By narrowing the gender gaps, it’s estimated that agricultural productivity could be increased by twenty to thirty percent. But women must share the gains of economic growth – it needs to be inclusive.”

The workshop has heard that removing the barriers that women face in realizing their full human and productive potential is the way to build a sustainable pathway to gender-sensitive sustainable rural development and fully recognizes their contributions to ensuring food security.

“Closing the gender gap in agriculture and empowering rural women can also result in improvements in nutrition and health for members of their families and increase opportunities for education of their children,” said Konuma. “It could also help lift an additional 100 to 150 million people out of hunger.”

FAO puts gender equality at the core of its mandate to eliminate poverty and achieve food security for all. The workshop has provided a platform for countries and development partners to exchange experiences and knowledge about gender equality and rural women’s economic empowerment, and to identify challenges, opportunities and priority areas for action in the coming years.