Women as users, managers and preservers of bio-diversity Woman farmers sow potato seeds in Peru FAO/17445/A/A. Odoul Women have unique knowledge about the value and use of genetic resources for food and agriculture. In sub-Saharan Africa, women cultivate as many as 120 different plants in the spaces alongside men's cash crops. In the Andean regions of Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, women develop and maintain the seed banks on which food production depends. In Rwanda, women are the traditional farmers of beans, known as the 'meat' of the countryside, which provide one-quarter of the calories and almost half the protein that people consume.            Further information  Women as users, managers and preservers of bio-diversity The feminization of agriculture Areas for action Facts and figures                 Subcategories    agricultural engineering animal health, animal production, conservation and sustainable use of animal genetic resources conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources farm and household management land tenure and land management sustainable livelihoods Agriculture Department Homepage