Insight

The findings of FAO’s recently launched State of Food and Agriculture report 2010-11 (SOFA): “Women in Agriculture: Closing the gender gap for development,” were the focus of a high-level roundtable debate organized by the three Rome-based UN agencies - FAO, IFAD and WFP - and of presentations in FAO’s Country Offices, on March 8, the centenary of International Women’s Day.

As the 55th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) unfolds in New York, FAO urges world leaders to ensure that rural women are fully included in the design, testing and use of agricultural technologies and innovations.

Access to decent employment is one of the most effective ways for rural people to lift themselves out of poverty. This article presents a number of facts taken from the new UN interagency report: "Gender dimensions of agricultural and rural employment: Differentiated pathways out of poverty".

Women in agriculture play a vital role as agents of food security and rural economic growth, but often endure poor working conditions and receive limited recognition for their contributions. The International Day of Rural Women takes place each year on October 15 to honour the multiple roles that rural women play worldwide.

Producers’ cooperatives help rural women in farming, fishing and forestry meet the special challenges they face, including gender inequalities.