1. If you had made an intervention at the side event on rural women at the 8th session of the Open Working Group in New York, what would have been its key message?
The FAO needs to create "demonstration farms" in various rural regions and climatic zones that will accelerate sustainable development for rural women. For example, suppose the FAO started a “demonstration farm” on one hectare of tropical/arid land to show poor rural women, who in the past earned $2/day, how to make a better living. How much money would the FAO spend on the following:
- Cost of borrowing money
- Land rental
- Land clearing
- Land tillage
- Farm equipment
- Fencing
- Water use
- Irrigation equipment
- Seeds and nursery stock
- Fertilizer
- Pest control
- Disease control
- Fungicides
- Packaging the products
- Marketing theproducts
- Transport
- Farm insurance
Given the list above, what investments would the FAO expect a rural woman, who earned $2/day in the past, to invest in her farm? What investments made by the FAO "demonstration farm" would not be made by a poor woman farmer? How does the FAO make their “demonstration farm” more realistic to the needs of a poor rural woman farmer? Based on FAO estimates and pactical experience in different regions, how much of a microloan would rural women need in order to substantially achieve food and nutrition security in the future?
Dr. Paul Rigterink