Insight

Government leaders and world food experts called for a ‘global goal on food and nutrition security’ in the Post-2015 development agenda during a high-level consultation on Hunger, Food Security and Nutrition in Madrid, Spain, on 4 April 2013. Handing their newly defined vision to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the group urged ‘universal rights for a food and nutrition secure future for all,’ specifying that gender equality should be promoted.

This year, leaders of the Rome-based agencies (FAO, WFP and IFAD), as well as IDLO, in partnership with the Government of Iceland, met at WFP headquarters to mark International Women’s Day with an event that focused on the connection between women, violence and food security.

Rural cooperatives and farmers’ organizations play a crucial role in the eradication of hunger and poverty. One of the ways they achieve this is through their vocation to empower small agricultural producers, and in particular women farmers.

On the heels of the 2012 International AIDS Conference, which took place from July 22-27 in Washington DC, we sat down with Karine Garnier, FAO’s Nairobi-based regional emergency officer for gender and HIV.

Granting secure land rights to vulnerable farmers enables them to pursue income-earning activities, access credit, increase agricultural production and raise their overall living conditions. These key factors help to strengthen men and women’s bargaining power and their ability to make decisions on how their land can be used.