Gender and biodiversity

All people worldwide make use of plant and animal biological resources.  Rural men and women, however, are often entirely dependent on the environment.  Frequently among the world’s most poor and vulnerable groups, their livelihoods are intimately intertwined with the utilization of biological variety.  In this respect, any change in biodiversity patterns will first and foremost affect the viability of rural survival.  Preserving agricultural biodiversity is hence crucial for sustainable rural development, food security, and poverty alleviation.

An understanding of gender issues in plant and animal biodiversity requires a look at the different roles and relations of men and women as part of their overall livelihood systems that comprise farms and gardens, common property resources, such as pastures and forested lands, as well as protected areas.

Through their different activities and resources management practices, men and women have developed different expertise and knowledge regarding the local environment, plant and animal species and their products and uses. These gender-differentiated local knowledge systems play a decisive role in the in-situ (in their natural habitat/ecosystem) conservation, management and improvement of genetic resources for food and agriculture. The decision of what to conserve depends on the know-how and perception of what is most useful to the household and local community.

FAO, gender and biodiversity

The Gender , Equity and Rural Employment Division of FAO is  carrying out activities to enhance rural people’s food security and promote sustainable management of agro-biodiversity by strengthening the capacity of institutions in the agricultural sector to apply approaches which recognise men and women farmer’s knowledge in their programmes and policies.   

The main activities include:

• Training: how to record and document local knowledge and how to use gender analysis and participatory methods for both research and action processes 
• Technical assistance for research on gender-based differences in farmer's knowledge related to agro-biodiversity conservation (e.g. use of medicinal plants, local seed management etc.) 
• Technical assistance to enhance communication and the exchange of information about the value of local knowledge in agriculture within and between communities, as well as with institutions that interact with farmers and with policy-makers.  

For more information please visit the LinKS project website.