Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition • FSN Forum

E – Discussion No. 130: Transforming gender relations in agriculture through women’s empowerment: benefits, challenges and trade-offs for improving nutrition outcomes [1]

Contributor: Dr. Santosh Kumar Mishra [2]

[1]: Comments submitted on July 21, 2016, 2016 to [email protected]

[2]: Dr. Santosh Kumar Mishra (Ph. D.), Technical Assistant, Population Education Resource Centre (PERC), Department of Continuing and Adult Education and Extension Work (DCAEEW), S. N. D. T. Women's University (SNDTWU), Patkar Hall Building, First Floor, 1, Nathibai Thackerey Road, Mumbai-400020, Maharashtra, India 

Note: Views expressed below are of the contributor (in individual capacity) AND NOT of the PERC, DCAEEW, SNDTWU (the contributor is employed with presently) 

1. How far can policy recognition of women’s roles and contributions to agriculture lead to strengthening women’s agency, empowerment and in turn nutritional outcomes?

During end of previous decade, there has been growing recognition of the fact that developmental initiatives, particularly in the developed world, has led to considerable changes in women’s position in the society. This recognition was pushed by certain crucial underlying social and technological changes, as well as a liberalized political environment. Women were part of a rapid increase in the extent and quality of education. In the United States, the civil rights movement, affirmative action, and consciousness−raising resulted in a political renaissance for both black people and women. Access to higher education and training, as one direct result, improved the bargaining position of black and white women in the job market. This emancipation led to, and was supported by, important changes in societies’ attitudes. This was followed by reforms in policy and legislation aimed at strengthening women’s contribution to betterment of nutritional outcomes.

The major changes, as outlined above, provided women particularly in the wealthiest societies, with almost similar social, political and economic rights to those of men in these countries. Although further progress is still to be made, by the 1980’s women were increasingly seen as nearly equal partners in the workforce at all levels of developed society. This liberation movement, evolving at different rates in various countries, was an important factor in the global concern for issues affecting women, with a leading role coming to be played by the United Nations. With advances in industrialized societies under way, the position of women in developing countries, and the equally compelling case for concern for their position, came increasingly to the fore. The changes in developed societies in favour of women’s status were seen almost universally as signs of progress in society, beneficial not only to women, but to communities as a whole.

Programs intended to improve nutritional conditions for women and their families can be more successfully designed and implemented if there is a greater understanding and awareness of the specific roles that women play. This is because of the fact that women’s status and their health (and nutrition) are intricately entwined. Thus, in order to ensure any meaningful improvement, one must first deal with those ways in which health and nutrition of a woman are affected adversely by the existing social, cultural and economical systems. A sound nutrition program needs to go beyond the provision of health and nutrition services. Also, there is need to recognize that nutritional problems often have their origins in social and economic systems, and that these problems can be solved only by bringing about changes in these systems, particularly at household level. Further, women’s access to productive resources affects food availability at the household level. Increased access to productive resources itself can be an outcome of many complex interrelated factors such as:

• increased income and more importantly increased control over it (both women’s income and total household income);
• enhanced educational opportunities, social knowledge and decision-making power;
• increased time available and devoted to productive tasks; as well as
• enhanced efficiency of production.

Source: United Nations (October, 1990). Women and Nutrition – Nutrition Policy discussion paper No. 6. Switzerland: ACC/SCN, c/o World Health Organization. http://www.unscn.org/layout/modules/resources/files/Policy_paper_No_6.pdf, accessed on July 22, 2016. 

1. Are there experiences/strategies that can help address the issue of women’s time?

1. Examples demonstrating the impact of the reduction or redistribution of unpaid care work on nutritional outcomes in agricultural households.

Unpaid care work is a critical - yet largely unseen - dimension of human well- being that provides essential domestic services within households, for other households and to community members. ‘Unpaid’ means that the person doing the activity does not receive a wage and that the work, because it falls outside the production boundary in the, is not counted in GDP (gross domestic product) calculations. ‘Care’ means that the activity serves people and their well-being, and includes both personal care and care - related activities, such as cooking, cleaning and washing clothes. The term ‘work’ implies that the activity entails expenditures of time and energy. “Unpaid care work” is also referred to as ‘domestic’ work in order to distinguish it from market - based work.

Source: Falth, Anna; and Balackden, Mark (October, 2009). Policy Brief: Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction. United Nations Development Program (UNDP). http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/gender/Gender%20and%20Poverty%20Reduction/Unpaid%20care%20work%20English.pdf, accessed on July 22, 2016. 

From a human rights perspective, social protection programs should recognize the role of women as caregivers and the burden that this role can create. For example, when women are made responsible for complying with conditions attached to participation in a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program (for example, taking children to medical check-ups or ensuring they go to school) or when they are required to travel (sometimes long distances) to collect the benefits or to participate in various stages of the program, their domestic unpaid workload increases. If this is not expressly addressed in the program design, the increased burden on women may further undermine their own welfare disincentivizing them from participating in the program. Sometimes, programs that have not been designed with women’s care responsibilities in mind can even have a detrimental impact on girls’ schooling. For example, when as program moves on, the time the mother spends away from home, girls are then required to assume their mother’s responsibilities such as cooking or collecting water.

Source: Social Protection Human Rights (2015). Care responsibilities and unpaid care work. Social Protection Human Rights. http://socialprotection-humanrights.org/key-issues/gender/care-responsibilities-and-unpaid-care-work/, , accessed on July 22, 2016.

In the context of unpaid care work, there are policies to enhance female labor force participation and gender equity in various parts of the globe. Following example from Brazil demonstrates the impact of the reduction or redistribution of unpaid care work on overall gender equity and agricultural households:

Over the past two decades, Brazil’s female labor force participation rate (FLFPR) increased by more than 15 percentage points to almost 60 percent, with the increase mainly driven by married women and women with children. Brazilian women are now more educated than men, with tertiary education participation exceeding male participation. However, the gender gap in labor force participation remains at a high 21 percentage points, women are 9 percent more likely than men to live in poverty, and women face significant earnings gaps. Brazil is ranked eighth out of 86 countries in the 2012 Social Institution and Gender Index (SIGI), which comprises five dimensions of social institutions to promote gender equality.

Brazil has implemented following targeted reforms to remove restrictions in access to resources and entitlements for women:

• The National Documentation Program for Rural Women Workers helps rural female workers obtain the necessary documentation to get access to land, credit and government services, which resulted in an increase in the share of women who own land titles from 13 to 56 percent between 2003 and 2007.
• The Bolsa Familia direct cash transfer program was launched in 2003 as a merger of the federal government’s existing conditional and unconditional cash transfer programs and covered around one fourth of Brazil’s population by 2007. Building on studies that show that increasing women’s share in household income raises the share of resources spent on family well-being, this program distributes most of its payments directly to women. The program has increased women’s financial independence (SIGI, 2012) and has also had a positive effect on women’s labor force participation.
• In 2004, the authorities adopted the National Plan for Women’s Policies to address specific needs of mothers, including health care during pregnancy, as well as child care and education.
• Brazil’s maternity benefits policies include 120 days of paid leave at 100 percent of their salary, which is paid by the employer but reimbursed by Brazil’s Social Security Institute. An additional 60 days allowance that can be provided by employers is tax-deductible.
• In the year 2003, the authorities introduced the Pronaf-Mulher credit line targeting women in rural areas. As a result, women’s credit share in rural development financing programs increased by some 15 percent between 2001 and 2006 to almost 26 percent.

Source: Elborgh-Woytek, Katrin, et al. (September, 2013). Women, Work, and the Economy: Macroeconomic Gains From Gender Equity. International Monetary Fund (IMF). https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0ahUKEwialZG1yIbOAhVBuY8KHbltCGYQFgg-MAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.imf.org%2Fexternal%2Fpubs%2Fft%2Fsdn%2F2013%2Fsdn1310.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFFhDDFRFihbb4v3OX8tWyVw6ST_Q&cad=rja, accessed on July 22, 2016.

1. Do men, community/state institutions take responsibility for the care of young children, especially during peak cultivation seasons when women’s labour is much needed?

This question has no standard answer. In some settings, community takes responsibility to some extent. It all depends upon type of family, nuclear or joint, and the level of responsibility assigned to each family member. Another contributing factor is value system. For example, in to understand Southeast Asian parenting and child-rearing practices, one must first understand the cultural values and beliefs that influence parents, especially regarding family life and interpersonal relationships.

1. How rigid or flexible are social norms when it comes to issues of survival?

This question has no standard answer. In some settings, social norms are rigid and vice-versa. There are let of variations in the context of type of society, rural-urban differences, type of value system, geographical region, etc. But as the time goes on, on finds variations in flexibility of social norms.  

1. Are you aware of changes in gender divisions of work, roles/responsibilities in contexts of change (eg: shifts in cropping patterns, technical innovations, the loss of ecosystem services, social and political conflict)? How is the contribution of men to household nutrition changing?

Differences between men and women with respect to dietary intakes and eating behaviours have been reported and could be explained by gender differences in motivational variables associated with the regulation of food intake.

1. What is the link between dietary diversity, women’s engagement with agriculture, and access to ecosystem services?

Broad-based agricultural growth has been shown to be effective in reducing poverty. However, increases in agricultural productivity do not translate directly into improved health and nutrition outcomes. A broad body of literature demonstrates that the linkages between agriculture, health, and nutrition are dynamic and multifaceted. Production-oriented projects that ignore the nutritional quality of food produced, potential trade-offs between crops for food and other uses, the health impacts of pesticide exposure, and a range of other health and nutrition outcomes stand to have little  - potentially even negative - impact on the well -being of the rural poor. With the increasing recognition that agricultural growth and development do not necessarily translate into improved nutrition outcomes, policymakers are increasingly grappling with how to design and implement agricultural policies and programs that can also achieve nutritional objectives. Agriculture has direct links to nutrition in the sense that it provides a source of food and nutrients and a broad-based source of income, as well as directly influencing food prices.

Further, with the increasing recognition that agricultural growth and development do not necessarily translate into improved nutrition outcomes, policymakers are increasingly grappling with how to design and implement agricultural policies and programs that can also achieve nutritional objectives. Agriculture has direct links to nutrition in that it provides a source of food and nutrients and a broad-based source of income, as well as directly influencing food prices. Gender roles mediate these linkages, particularly in relation to increased food availability and increased income. Thus, one possible pathway through which agricultural development could improve health and nutrition outcomes is by considering gender roles and gender equity in agriculture.

Source: Malapit, Hazel Jean L., et al. (December, 2013). Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture, Production Diversity, and Nutrition: Evidence from Nepal (IFPRI Discussion Paper 01313). Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk/pdf/outputs/LANSA/ifpri-dp-01313.pdf, accessed on July 22, 2016.

1. For Afghanistan, we want to capture experiences about women’s roles in agriculture and agribusiness value chains in order to shape policies and interventions to recognise and support women’s contribution to livelihood security.

Following experience can be quoted as guiding principle on women’s roles in agriculture for Afghanistan:

Rural Women’s Project: In Tanzania, agriculture is the largest and most important sector of the economy. Majority of the country’s population which lives in rural areas relies heavily on agriculture. The sector accounts for about half of the national income, three quarters of merchandise exports and is source of food and provides employment opportunities to about 80 percent of Tanzanians. Agriculture also has linkages with the non-farm sect ors through forward linkages to agro-processing; consumption and export; provides raw materials to industries; and a market for manufactured goods. Consequently, agriculture has a pivotal role in economic growth, and is directly linked with sustainable development and poverty reduction. Gender differences are a significant attribute in agriculture, from access, control and ownership of land to marketing of raw and processed produce. In Tanzania, despite constitutional proclamations of gender equality and many laws that promote equal opportunities for both men and women, it remains the case that on both smallholder farms and large plantations, men and women carry out different types of work, have different levels of access to resources, and are unequally rewarded for their contributions to the agricultural system, with women typically having less access and lower incomes.  Among the CARE’s mandate in various countries in Africa is to promote gender equity, women’s empowerment, productive and sustainable agriculture, market engagement, and environmental change. The newly defined overarching goal of CARE Tanzania states that “CARE Tanzania and allies will contribute to the empowerment of the most marginalized and vulnerable rural women and girls to exercise their rights. This will enable them to achieve access to, and control over quality services and resources, leading to sustainable livelihoods”.

In order to support the goal, CARE Tanzania, is launching a major initiative targeting ‘Women and Agriculture (WAA)’ in Southern Tanzania, that will promote pro-poor and gender sensitive approach to economic development and management of natural resources. The initiative aims to achieve more productive and equitable participation of rural women in the agriculture sector, focusing on smallholders.

The proposed WAA program will address CARE’s long-term goal of promoting impact groups including the most marginalized and vulnerable women and girls dependent on natural resources in areas with severe environmental restrictions. As a result, the impact groups will have built their resilience, diversified their livelihood strategies, addressed equitable access to, and control over resources, and benefiting from natural resources. The program’s geographic area of focus is Mtwara and Lindi Regions. The two regions are characterized by:

• relatively poor infrastructural links,
• varied and vast undeveloped terrain,
• erratic weather conditions,
• high level of poverty,
• food insecurity,
• cultural dynamics,
• high illiteracy, and
• maternal mortality rates.

Source: Care Tanzania: Women and Agricultural Project. http://gender.care2share.wikispaces.net/file/view/WAA+Gender+Analysis.pdf, accessed on July 22, 2016. 

It is to share a project which has strong women empowerment component at the grass root level

Bringing back the traditional crop cultivation is carried out as a part of enhancing the coping capacity of the women farmers of the highly vulnerable tribal women farmers of Attappadi region of Kerala, South India, with the help of National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). This initiatives rae done through the Neighbourhood Groups (NHG) of the Kudumbashree, a poverty eradication mission of the state of Kerala. Under this initiatives, native seed varieties of vegetables, millets and pulses sourced from the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) and the Desi Seeds Collective are distributed only to the women farmers. These activities are carried out under the Mahila Kisan Shashakthikarna Pariyojana (MKSP) of NRLM. It is proposed that the productivity under this cultivation will be used merely for the self-consumption of families which will take care of their nutritional demands and to prepare seeds for the next season.

Gracias por esta oportunidad de participar, desde FIAN Colombia nuestra conntribución gira en el marco del derecho a la aliemntación y nustrición adecudad y los derechos humanos de las mujeres y su interdependencia.

El Derecho Humano a la Alimentación y Nutrición Adecuada (en adelante DHANA), desde una perspectiva de derechos humanos de las mujeres, confronta el tema de la desigualdad de género en todas las escalas y dimensiones que la realización social, económica y cultural de ese derecho implica.  En ese sentido, el DHANA de las Mujeres es mucho más que “no padecer hambre” o tener “seguridad alimentaria”. Significa disfrutar de una gobernanza sobre su propia vida, cuerpo y territorio, en la que la alimentación no esté sometida a ninguna amenaza o restricción (interna o externa), y se desarrolle respetando las decisiones autónomas de las comunidades o mujeres en torno a cómo controlar su proceso alimentario; es decir, qué producen, cómo lo intercambian, de qué manera transforman los alimentos, cómo los consumen, cómo se recrean los ciclos alimentarios, y cómo todo esto se desenvuelve en armonía con las culturas, la naturaleza y el derecho de las futuras generaciones a gozar, también, de las condiciones necesarias para garantizar su alimentación.

El DHANA de las mujeres implica el Reconocimiento de su rol como sujetas políticas, su autonomía y dignidad, así como de los aportes que brindan en todo el proceso alimentario (producción, intercambio y comercialización, transformación,  consumo y utilización biológica) tanto en las esferas públicas y privadas. De igual manera requiere la Redistribución paritaria de los beneficios que de ello se desprende en materia de salud, educación, tierra, trabajo y alimentos. También se relaciona la defensa de ese derecho con la Representación política en los escenarios de toma de decisión sobre sus cuerpos y comunidades y, finalmente, con la protección de los procesos de Resistencia que nacen fruto de sus luchas en y/o por sus  territorios (cuerpo – tierra) frente a procesos de despojo, violencias y discriminación.  Avanzar en la garantía del DHANA de las mujeres y niñas en Colombia es avanzar en la construcción de horizontes de paz y caminos de verdad, justicia y reparación. Algo muy importante para la realidad de un país sumidos en décadas de conflicto interno.

Frente a al componente de disponibilidad del DHANA, las mujeres colombianas no cuentan con garantías para la producción agrícola y el desarrollo de alimentos adecuados con semillas propias; tampoco con titulación de tierras individual o colectivamente, ni se protege desde el Estado la transmisión de conocimiento y la pervivencia de la cultura propia. En cuanto al componente de acceso a la alimentación, las mujeres no cuentan con capacidad económica suficiente para la compra de alimentos cultural y nutricionalmente adecuados. Además, el acceso a agua potable de calidad es muy pobre ya que las fuentes hídricas están fuertemente contaminadas por residuos industriales o derivados de las fumigaciones y la minería. A pesar de esta realidad, apenas el Estado ha generado limitadas acciones asistencialistas, con impactos dudosos, dirigidas a mujeres gestantes y lactantes, y niños y niñas en edad escolarizada.

Cabe resaltar que esta situación se presenta también en las mujeres profundiza las dificultades que ellas tienen para ver realizados el conjunto de sus derechos humanos. En caso de pueblos o comunidades étnicas como esta, la no protección, respeto y realización del DHANA se constituye en un obstáculo que condiciona o determina la no realización de otros derechos humanos, profundiza su situación de pobreza y exclusión social, y facilita las dinámicas de expropiación, por parte de otros actores, de lo pocos recursos con los que aún cuentan.

Finalmente, frente a la violencia contra las mujeres la no garantía del DHANA podría ubicarse como una categoría de femicidio, cuando se refiere a formas encubiertas de violencia extrema contra las mujeres, en este caso la muerte por hambre como práctica discriminatoria relacionada con el género.  “Variantes del término feminicidio también incluyen otras conductas delictivas que no necesariamente conducen a la muerte de la mujer, sino a un daño grave en su integridad física, psíquica o sexual, y que algunos han denominado recientemente como violencia feminicida[1].  Lo cual refuerza la conceptualización realizada por la Ley 1761 de 2015 crea el tipo penal de feminicio en Colombia, la cual en su articulo No. 2 literal b. Describre: Ejercer sobre el cuerpo y la vida de la mujer actos de instrumentalización de género o sexual o acciones de opresión y dominio sobre sus decisiones vitales y su sexualidad. Y  el Articulo 3º. Literal f. Cuando se cometa el delito con posterioridad a una agresión sexual, a la realización de rituales, actos de mutilación genital o cualquier otro tipo de agresión o sufrimiento físico o psicológico.

Es importante adoptar medidas como

1. Incluir de manera transversal la categoría y variable género, en todas las políticas, reformas y leyes que pueden mantener y reforzar las desigualdades existentes entre mujeres y varones.

1. Que adopte e implemente las medidas necesarias para la incorporación del enfoque de derechos humanos de las mujeres en los programas de desarrollo rural, potenciando la superación estructural  de los estereotipos de genero.

1. Que adopte e implemente medidas para garantizar la protección y el acceso a la tierra de las mujeres afrocolombianas, indígenas y campesinas, independientemente de la titularidad de la tierra colectiva.

1. Que los programas que diseñe e implemente para garantizar el derecho a la alimentación y nutrición adecuada, basados en ayudas alimentarias o acciones asistencialistas, no tengan un enfoque exclusivamente familista.

1. Que en el desarrollo e implementación de políticas y programas en materia alimentaria y rural no se adopten medidas que reproduzcan la dependencia a las mujeres. Por el contrario, deben tener como uno de sus fines desarrollar capacidades para que las mujeres puedan ver garantizado su DHANA de manera autónoma, así como asegurar salarios dignos y equitativos (en relación con los hombres) para aquellas mujeres que acceden a la alimentación a través del trabajo no rural.

1. Que adopte medidas específicas para proteger el DHANA de las mujeres ante los intereses de empresas y negocios, especialmente aquellas que dañan el  ambiente o afectan negativamente la relación de las mujeres con su territorio, recursos y comunidades. Deben así mismo adoptarse medidas que eliminen las prácticas discriminatorias en la selección de personal al interior de las empresas, y que erradiquen cualquier forma de violencia contra los derechos humanos de las mujeres.

1. Que adopte mecanismos de exigibilidad con perspectiva de género que permitan a las mujeres rurales denunciar política, administrativa y jurídicamente cualquier tipo de violación a su DHANA.

1. Que se implementen medidas dirigidas a promover institucionalmente o en el campo privado (publicidad comercial en medios masivos, por ejemplo), visiones sexistas de la mujer en relación con el tema alimentario. Este tipo de medidas es fundamental para frenar los problemas alimentarios derivados de la imposición de patrones culturales y tendencias consumistas con alto impacto en la salud de las mujeres (los desórdenes alimentarios, por ejemplo).

Dear Colleagues,

As our consultation period draws to a close, we take this opportunity to thank you for your fantastic contributions to this important debate.  We are delighted with the tremendous response and very grateful to you all for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences.

There is clearly a lot of knowledge already in this field, and it is heartening to hear about the numerous interventions and successes in the region and around the world. Despite these examples of success across contexts, however, we seem to be confronted by a general non-recognition in the policy domain of women’s work in agriculture and contributions to household nutrition.

In spite of their hard work, it appears that women have little say in decision-making and benefits too are not shared equally. Inadequate attention has been paid to reducing the drudgery of women’s work, and where technological innovations have been possible, the work itself has often been reclassified and revalued as ‘male’. Gendered wage discrimination persists, and there are few attempts at redistributing or reducing the burdens of domestic and reproductive work. Issues of male responsibility and awareness have been raised as central to addressing the burden of malnutrition alongside achieving women’s empowerment, and gender equality more broadly.

We are grateful for your willingness to share your ideas, examples and research with us in such a collegiate manner. We will aim to draw together the general themes and specific ideas generated by this online consultation in a single document over the next few weeks, so please do keep an eye on the Forum page.

Moving forward, the Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) programme plans to not only consolidate its ongoing research in this field, but also draw on your experiences in order to engender the policy debates around agriculture and nutrition in South Asia.

We hope that our collective research and advocacy efforts will contribute first of all to recognition of women’s roles and contributions to agriculture and nutrition in South Asia. This will help strengthen women’s claims for equal entitlements, and policy interventions to reduce, redistribute and support these contributions to attain the larger goals of household food and nutrition security as well as gender equality.

Finally, we thank you again for your support and contributions to this discussion. It has been an extremely rewarding and refreshing process.

With very best wishes,

LANSA facilitators: Nitya Rao, Barnali Chakraborthy, Haris Gazdar and Nigel Poole.

The subject is very interesting, and I think we have a training (Empowering women in Agriculture) at the end of July 2016. As you are aware, we have long time internal war in Afghanistan that has resulted in poor economy and education. The situation affects the social, cultural life and environment of Afghanistan. In fact, vulnerability in the Afghan community has influenced the women’s life. For a long time now, women work behind the men in agriculture – particularly during harvesting, hatchery, Saffron processing, home gardening, milk processing, etc.

My concern is we have limited number of women with Agriculture education. In agriculture higher education for example, we have had just one female student in agriculture faculty of Kandahar University for the last 20 years. Reasons are usually because men do the hard work in the fields and women can’t do it, but that notion is not true. We have to try to encourage women to get an education in agriculture. This will make them self-sufficient and we will have some changes on women empowerment.

Atiqullah Khan

Agri Promote Officer

PECMS-DAIL, Kandahar Afghanistan

Women are the backbone of subsistence farming and play a pivotal role in providing food security, in Pakistan, more than 75 % rural women are engaged in agricultural & livestock, unfortunately, their contribution is not acknowledged, they are not paid against their work and are considered only helping hands for their family which leads not to be considered their economic activity.

“The tragedy is that there are no accurate figures about rural women’s contribution to the economic growth and gross domestic product (GDP) which is quite significant” said Sindh Institute for Democracy and Development’s Zulfiqar Halepoto. A major portion of household budget is spent on men instead of women, despite their greater contribution. Boys are given preference over girls when it comes to education and health. If rural women’s work is recognized and recorded, it would help develop agriculture faster, and it would be the biggest single factor in reducing poverty.

·         Women’s work especially in agriculture & livestock sector should be recorded to ensure their access to resources, to open bank accounts and to borrow money and buy agriculture inputs like fertilizers and seeds.

·         Governments should give subsidy to female farmers for their active role in agriculture sector.

·         Women’s role in agriculture should be made a part in national policy.

·         Landless women should be allotted land, be encouraged to carry out their economic activity themselves, not dependent to men.

·         Their access to micro-finance facility should be ensured.

·         Women should be encouraged to make women farmers unions.

·         For the education and lifelong learning, Sustainable Development Goals 4 & 5 should be implemented in letter and spirit.

·         Kitchen Gardening for food security, must be promoted at household level. Government departments, International and Non-Governmental organizations should design programmes for training especially women in Kitchen Gardening, agriculture and livestock. Use of information communication technology (ICT) should be promoted, CDs can explain a large number of illiterates, how to work in livestock & vegetable farming, to improve & then forward with entrepreneurship skills.

Though women’s contribution in agriculture is tremendous, but it has been underestimated, the value of their output has never been acknowledged in national statistics. Need to be included women’s contribution in national statistics and they should be further encouraged and trained to manage their economic activity by themselves.

Dear FSN forum participants

It is my suggestion that we can introduce a good kitchen gardening subject in schools and trained the students for practically cultivation of fresh fruits and vegetables at their homes. Through this trend children and females can get some nutritious food.  We can also utilize health workers, for the awareness and capacity building rural females about use and production of nutritious food but first we should trained health workers up to required level.

Thanks,

Mustafa Nangraj

Females and children of rural Pakistan are mostly malnourished due to many reasons some areas under:

1.      Poverty

2.      Low literacy rate

3.      Lack of availability of nutritious food

4.      Lack of knowledge about nutrition

5.      Poor cropping patterns related to balanced nutrition

6.      Male dominant social setup

Historically in Sindh it is observed that most people used to rear animals to get milk and butter for home use only and they feel that it is not good to sell milk or butter for earning money because they feel that these are very sacred things therefore these should not be sold for the sake of money and they prefer to use it at home and give to other people as gifts or free of cost. Along with that they used to cultivate different types of vegetables and pulses with other crops and used those vegetables and pulses to fulfil their family nutritious food requirements. As milk, butter and other poultry products and fresh vegetables, pulses etc. were highly nutritious therefore people in past were enjoying a healthy life.

But nowadays situation is totally different. Mostly they are selling total milk of their animals and not preparing butter. Due to increased population, fragmentation of natural resources and enhanced poverty people are helpless to sell these nutritious foods and as a result they face issues of malnutrition.

On the other hand, rural community has changed cropping patterns. They emphasize on commercial crops and cultivate mainly four major crops such as wheat, rice, cotton and sugarcane but they are not cultivating vegetables and pulses for their home use. This situation leads to poor nutrition issues for all family members especially females and children who suffer more.

These situations need long term policy initiatives. We (Dr. Tehmina and Mr. Mustafa) have developed a model “Female Agriculture and Livestock Entrepreneurship Services” for the empowerment of females of rural areas. Results of this research model were very successful and sustainable and suggest that Rural Female Empowerment can ensure successful solutions of all problems (including malnutrition) of rural females their children and families. Based on those results it is suggested that FAO and other donors can select some areas for piloting  and  Female Entrepreneurship Centres (FECs) can be established and can be linked with other organizations for successful and sustainable results.

Milk and dairy products are crucial for the daily food security and income generation of Afghan families, and women play an important role in the related activities. Since 2005, FAO is implementing the Integrated Dairy Schemes (IDS) Project, with financial support of the Afghan, German and Italian Governments and IFAD. The aim of the project is to improve food security in Afghanistan by supporting the national dairy sector. Since its inception, four milk processing plants have been set up in Herat, Kunduz, Mazar-i Sharif and Kabul: they are operating independently and successfully. Over 5 700 smallholder farm families, including 1 540 women, benefit on a daily basis from the regular “milk money”.

In 2014, FAO undertook a detailed assessment to investigate the in depth impact on rural Afghan women and their families of the project. The assessment identified lessons learned and actionable recommendations to inform the design and implementation of gender-sensitive and inclusive dairy programmes. This publication draws on the evidence gathered during the implementation of the Project on the multiple benefits on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Integrated Dairy Schemes (IDS) can be seen as a first stepping stone for a large number of rural women to start establishing a better place for themselves in the Afghan society.

Please find the link to the publication Empowering women in Afghanistan. Reducing gender gaps through Integrated Dairy Schemes www.fao.org/3/a-i4585e.pdf

Best regards

Regina Laub

Senior Gender Officer,

FAO Social Protection Division (ESP)

Thanks to Muqeem Shah Miakheel for your contribution – perhaps we can work together to bring about the changes you propose for Afghanistan.