Foro Global sobre Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (Foro FSN)

The Zero Draft of the Voluntary Guidelines of the Committee on Global Food Security (CFS) on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition addressed from Overall, the challenges and issues encountered are women and girls in the agricultural context, however, it is important to draw attention to the situation of black women and girls who suffer from double discrimination:

- gender discrimination,

- discrimination linked to their ethnicity,

These women are often the majority to work in a context of small-scale agricultural production, car 1st means of subsistence, survival, sale of their product allows them to meet the needs of their children in terms of food and material.

Paradoxically to the fact that they are often entrepreneurs, these women are often exploited for multiple reasons because they do not have enough land to develop profitable agriculture: they just have to support their families.

It is important to provide devices to allow them to have easier access to land: the unique and ecological vision that they naturally bear on the subject will allow the creation of a fertile soil conducive to the development of sustainable agriculture. producer of healthier food for humanity.

Committee on World Food Security (CFS) Secretariat

Viale delle Terme di Caracalla

00153, Rome Italy

Dear Committee on World Food Security Secretariat,

We recognize and applaud the Committee on Food Security’s dedication to developing Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the context of food and nutrition.  These guidelines will be an essential component to ensuring a future planet that can nourish a growing population while achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With the inclusion of the points below, we believe these guidelines will be strengthened and have the potential to further enhance gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment globally in the face of climate change.

• Climate resiliency should be included as a core principle in achieving gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment in the context of food and nutrition (Part 2). Global food production systems are ill-prepared for the reality of our future: a growing human population and increasingly severe climate impacts. The current food production system is already unsustainable and without intervention we will continue to see depletion of soil health, water quality, aquatic foods, ecosystem function, wildlife abundance and more. Climate change will further exacerbate these challenges, increasing the number of malnourished and food insecure people around the world.[1],[2] Women are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change because they have less ownership and control over assets; they tend to manage tasks that are directly dependent on environmental health (e.g., fetching water, gleaning aquatic foods from reefs), and because gender roles in many cultures leave them with more of the burden of caring for family members while simultaneously reducing their own adaptive capacity.[3],[4] On top of this, the proportion of women already experiencing moderate to severe food and nutrition insecurity is consistently greater than that of men across every region of the world, and this is expected to worsen with the immediate and long-term impacts that climate change will have on vulnerable communities.[5] Thus, climate change has the potential to undermine efforts on behalf of Member States, development partners and other stakeholders to advance gender equality, women’s and girls’ rights and women’s and girls’ empowerment. However, evidence shows that deploying climate resilient management can help to mitigate these extreme impacts on people and the food system,[6],[7] and further, that including women in the decision-making around climate policies and interventions results in more effective interventions and leads to more equitable sharing of benefits. [8] Thus, by including climate resiliency as a core principle for achieving gender equity and women and girls’ empowerment, we can help to reduce impacts of climate change for vulnerable populations and maximize outcomes of interventions and engagements around both goals.
•  
• Greater emphasis should be placed on the role of women and girls in the entire range of the blue economy throughout the Zero Draft. Blue/aquatic foods play an especially vital role in nourishing women and girls globally while providing opportunities for employment, income and livelihoods. In capture fisheries, catches from women are often used to contribute to consumption in their families and, therefore, contribute to ensuring local food and nutrition security.[9] Women are engaged  throughout the commercial and artisanal fish supply chain and the aquaculture sector.[10] In capture fisheries alone it is estimated that women make up 47% of the 120 million people employed, either part-time or full-time.[11]  Often these roles are low paid and informal; most are in low and middle income countries.[12] Women comprise 70% of the aquaculture workforce.[13] Despite their significant contribution to the workforce, the social security net for women in the blue supply chain often does not exist. This became apparent during the COVID pandemic when in most places only men were eligible for government support, further highlighting the inequality in the sector.

The importance of aquatic/blue foods is heightened in small-scale fisheries and coastal communities as women fishers and fish workers contribute food and nutrition of their families as well as household income.[14] Despite the fact that improving gender equality in fisheries is linked to poverty reduction and greater development, most reform and equity efforts, especially in small-scale fisheries, fail to address existing gender inequalities.[15],[16] Gender-disaggregated data on the impact of women, especially resulting from their activities in small-scale fisheries, is needed to understand their important contributions to food and nutrition security and support proper management and policy creation.  Studies have shown that when interventions emphasize empowerment of women, consumption of fish and other aquatic foods and income; nutritional benefits can be achieved.[17]

Thus, for example, financial literacy is another aspect of gender equity that deserves special attention. Financial literacy training for women can help to support improved livelihoods and local economies in fishing communities, enabling women -- who often have held only informal roles in managing household budgets -- to move into the more formal economy and gain experience and economic power.[18] In general these important contributions by women are often overlooked by policy makers, society, and industry.[19]

Furthermore, women face special challenges and risks such as higher prevalence of HIV infection compared to men in fishing communities around the world -- for example, when they are forced by circumstances to trade sex for access to fish in order to be able to sell the fish in the marketplace.[20] Often resulting from “women’s diminished bargaining power, lack of income, and lack of nutritional security”,[21] these examples provide further evidence and justification for placing a greater emphasis on the need to recognize the role of women and girls in the blue economy within the Zero Draft. This can be achieved through the following suggestions:

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• References to the roles of women and girls in the blue economy (including capture fisheries, aquaculture and throughout the blue supply chain) throughout the Zero Draft, including but not limited to paragraphs 7, 16c, 60, 62, 63, and 129.

Recognition of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) including the importance of adoption of the key principles of these guidelines, through Constitutional, statutory or regulatory changes or via policy reforms  within Member States (specific reference in paragraph 17 and Section 3.5, ‘Access to and control over natural and productive resources’) and support for secure tenure rights that ensure access for women.

*It is important to note that an impending report, developed by Duke University, WorldFish and FAO under the project Illuminating Hidden Harvests, will provide updated evidence and statistics on the role of women and girls in global small-scale fisheries and aquaculture.

• Securing the benefits of Voluntary Guidelines via the rule of law. While the SSF Guidelines were unanimously adopted as a voluntary instrument, for their benefits to be fully realized they will need to be implemented in a way that secures their long-term application through national laws and governance structures. SSF Guidelines application is showing us that success of protecting women's rights, such as the right to secure access to fishing rights, depends upon mechanisms that allow for enforceability under the rule of law. To highlight this critical point, we suggest noting the importance of the adoption of implementing legal instruments, consistent with applicable national constitutions and laws, in order to effectuate these proposed guidelines in section 1.3 Nature of the voluntary guidelines and their intended users.

In summary, we suggest that adding discussion on three key points will greatly strengthen and enhance the already valuable Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the context of food and nutrition. These points are: 1) the disproportionate impacts of climate change on women, especially in relation to food and nutrition security; 2) the importance of women in the production of aquatic foods and throughout the blue economy; and 3) the need for legally enforceable policies and mechanisms to support and protect the rights of women throughout the food system.

Best Regards,

Karly Kelso

Director, Climate Resilient Food Systems

Environmental Defense Fund

Dr. Shakuntala Thilsted

2021 World Food Prize Laureate

Maria Honig

Lead, WWF Accelerating Coastal Community-Led Conservation Initiative

World Wildlife Fund

Jim Leape

Co-Director of the Center for Ocean Solutions/William and Eva Price Senior Fellow

Woods Institute for the Environment

Stanford University

Kristian Teleki

Director

Friends of Ocean Action

John Virdin

Director, Oceans & Coastal Policy Program

Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions

Duke University

Works Cited:

English translation below

Bonjour,

Après lecture de la version Zéro des directives, je pense pour résoudre le problème des femmes, il faut leur offrir les moyens.

C’est ainsi que je formule des propositions sur les points suivants dans la partie 3:

Accès à l’éducation, au renforcement des capacités, à la formation, aux connaissances et aux services d’information

- Création des centres féminins de formation en apprentissage dans tous les domaines des métiers

- Supprimer les critères d’âge pour l’accès des femmes des bourses dans les études supérieurs (Doctorat, Master)

Accès aux postes de responsabilité :

- Féminiser certains postes de responsabilité dans toutes les instances (institutions Gouvernementales, régionales et internationales).

Protection sociale :

Traiter clairement la question de la santé maternelle et infantile, l’assainissement : (création des maternités dans les zones rurales, renforcement de la prise en charge de la malnutrition....)

Accès au financement

- Créer des banques de crédits avec taux zéro pour les femmes dans le commerce informel

- désenclaver les zones rurales

Hello,

After having read version zero of the Guidelines, I think that in order to solve the problem of women, it is necessary to offer them the tools.

I therefore make recommendations on the following points in part 3:

Access to education, capacity building, training, knowledge and outreach services

- Establishment of on-the-job training centres for women in all trades

- Abolish age criteria for women’s access to scholarships in higher education (PhD, Master)

Access to positions of responsibility:

- Feminize certain positions of responsibility in all authorities (government, regional and international institutions).

Social protection:

Clearly address the issue of maternal and child health, sanitation: (creation of maternity clinics in rural areas, strengthening of malnutrition management...)

Access to financing

- Establish lending banks with zero interest for women in informal commerce

- Reduce the isolation of rural areas

Mission Statement: To work towards increasing equality and visibility for all genders and orientations within FMC in support of an inclusive and evolving work environment.

We want to support the goal of gender equality being an integral part of FMC’s recruitment process. We believe this is an important area of diversity and there is a need to create space for all employees and to communicate to the outside community that FMC, and STEM in general is such an environment.

Inclusive language: Reflect the realities of work/life balances, different family structures and needs people have.

Goals:

We want to find ways to reach employees who are not engaged on the company’s journey towards gender equality (50/50 by 2027).

We want to highlight the positive experiences of females in departments that are mostly occupied by men.

We want to work on a peer to peer level to promote the value of D&I to reach the sites across EMEA.

We want to promote a rotation program for female employees that could be interested in male dominated fields.

We want to challenge management to look at newer talent that has not had an opportunity to have directly relevant experience and look into a viable internship program for this purpose.

We want to do outreach to students to promote careers in FMC. Could be done by means of a temporary training agreement (trainee program). For operations this could be a group of female candidates to support their development in a welcoming environment. When we hire temporary operators for the high season we should have focus on the diversity.

We want to put the right image of working at a plant out to the possible female candidates (video?)

We wish to support the realities of work/life balance

We want to support the agenda of WIN and SPECTRUM (global Groups).

We will use the EMEA D&I website to share materials and insights developed by our group.

Inclusive Work environment.

Valued writing team, Dear FSN Forum members,

the zero draft already provides a good overview of the importance of gender in the context of food security and nutrition and the many inequities girls and women experience. Writing from the perspective of MISEREOR, a faith-based development organization that strongly believes in the agency of its partners, I first need to point at the very rich collection of comments already provided by the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism. I hope that the following comments can provide further input to this important work.

Does the Zero Draft appropriately capture the main challenges and barriers that hinder progress in achieving gender equality and the full realization of women’s and girls’ rights in the context of food security and nutrition? If not, what do you think is missing or should be adjusted?

• The draft rightly focuses on gender equality and the appreciation of human rights of each individual. It is important to specify that this applies irrespective of differing definitions of gender within societies, individual identification with different genders, and individual sexual orientation. This is even more important, as failing to confirm with predominant gender norms exposes persons to extreme infringements of their human rights. This should be made visible throughout the guidelines.
• Paragraph 8: As food security depends on gender equality and not on the attempt to establish it, it would be appropriate to replace “Providing adequate support to women in food Systems” with “Establishing equitable conditions for persons of all genders in food systems”.

Does Part 2 of the Zero Draft satisfactorily reflect the core principles which should underpin the Guidelines? If not, how do you propose to improve these principles?

• Genderbased discrimination is exacerbated by unjust food systems. Supporting the transition to just food systems should therefore be a guiding principle. Based on the 14th HLPE report, Agroecology, as defined in its 13 principles, should be considered as a preferred tool to transform existing food systems.
• Paragraph 28: Private sector partners that support gender equality should be regularly supported through favorable regulations and not through singular partnerships. Focusing on partnerships ignores the case of businesses that never come into being without genderresponsive regulations. Small, less-well connected businesses are unlikely to profit from partnerships. Additionally, the role of businesses goes beyond the supply of food. In a food systems context it is important to consider potentially positive or detrimental contributions to food security through incomes and food environments. Hence, we suggest to change the last sentence to: “The Guidelines aim to provide support for their gender approaches and to demonstrate how regulations that support gender equity can bring about positive change on food security and nutrition through accessible and affordable healthy diets, fair economic conditions, and supportive food environments in sustainable food systems.”

Do the nine sections of Part 3 of the Zero Draft comprehensively cover the policy areas to be addressed to achieve gender equality and the full realization of women’s and girls’ rights in the context of food security and nutrition? If not, what do you think is missing?

• Paragraph 48: This paragraph should prioritize the right of women and girls to education and how infringement on that right affects them. This should be stated before the description of positive externalities on child and family nutrition. While such externalities are important, it must be clear that the wellbeing of women and girls is a sufficient end in itself.
• Paragraph 82, ii.: This sentence may be rewritten as “Addressing social norms, regulations, and patterns in the provision of public services that directly or indirectly condition women´s involvement in agricultural investments, value chains and access to markets.” In many countries (legal) structures persist to support unequal power between genders, even if not explicitly targeting one gender. One practical example is the existence of joint income taxation of couples that has been shown to promote the labor market participation of the person with higher potential income, which – for different, largely discriminatory reasons tends to be male (see e.g. Alesina et al. (2011))  
• Section 3.4 “Women’s economic empowerment in the context of sustainable food systems”: We suggest to add a paragraph on the importance of supporting different market structures and forms of exchange. In many contexts women play an important role in traditional markets, wet markets, as street vendors and in other informal markets. These markets are vital to the provision of healthy diets, their proximity can make them more accessible for women costumers, and they are often easier to enter for womenowned businesses than so-called modern markets. Likewise, women play an important role in the non-market provision of food, e.g. through sharing and in social activities and initiatives. Yet, governments commonly ignore these activities, do not support them on equal terms with other (market) structures, or actively inhibit them (e.g. by banning street vendors).
• Section 3.5.2: This section misses a reference to laws, norms, and customs that affect the ownership of productive assets. Differences in dowries, inheritances, and the division of assets in case of separation all affect women´s control over productive assets. Thereby, they also affect women´s intrahousehold bargaining position and their influence in household decision making processes.
• Paragraph 123 ii.: Based on the food systems approach, we suggest to add reference not only to knowledge but also to promotion, advertising, and information. The text can be changed to “Provide adequate nutrition knowledge and information and restrict the proliferation of unhealthy diets through advertisements and promotion in order to strengthen the ability of persons of all genders to make strategic choices over their own and their family’s healthy diets and good nutrition.”

References

Alesina, A., Ichino, A., & Karabarbounis, L. (2011). Gender-based taxation and the division of family chores. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 3(2), 1-40.

English translation below

Bonjour chers membres, nous sommes heureux de vous partager la contribution du Sénégal portant sur le secteur agricole.

de ce fait, il convient de noter un faible niveau de détention de titres de propriété sur les parcelles par les exploitants, la majorité des parcelles exploitées (90%) sont des parcelles en propriété sans une formalité administrative officielle. Cependant, le document administratif est important pour la sécurisation du foncier. Le niveau d’accès des femmes au foncier agricole est relativement faible au Sénégal. Néanmoins, la proportion des femmes parmi les propriétaires de parcelles a augmenté et est passée de 14,7% à 19,3% entre 2019 et 2020, du fait de l’engagement des femmes dans les cultures vivrières notamment le riz pluvial au Sud. Le riz de bas-fonds est une spéculation majoritairement localisée dans la zone Sud et particulièrement dominée par les femmes. Au-delà du faible niveau d’accès des femmes à la terre, la superficie moyenne qu’elles exploitent reste 2 fois plus faible que celle des hommes. Ce qui illustre qu’en sus du faible accès des femmes à la terre, elles ne possèdent pas aussi de grandes superficies. Bien que marginalisées dans les systèmes de productions agricoles, les femmes jouent un rôle majeur dans l’agriculture vivrière et donc dans l’alimentation des ménages surtout ruraux.

Aussi, il faut noter que la répartition des parcelles emblavées selon le sexe de l’exploitant se situe à 81% en 2020 pour les hommes et 19% pour les femmes. Des difficultés d’accès à la terre pour les femmes et les jeunes. En effet, 46,7% de femmes et 53,3% de jeunes affirment que les terres sont insuffisantes, et rares. Même si les jeunes ressentent plus de difficultés dans l’accès à la terre en raison du regroupement et associations féminines (GPF), toutefois, les femmes sont plus exclues (70,8%) et discriminées en matière de terre en raison de leur statut social (mariage, veuves)[1. Ainsi, l’indice d’entreprenariat agricole féminin se situe à 0,2, ce qui signifie qu’il y a environ 2 exploitants femmes pour 10 exploitants hommes.

[1] Rapport étude diagnostic pour l’élaboration d’un plan d’action sur les violences basées sur le genre, l’exploitation et les abus sexuels/harcèlements sexuels (VBG, EAS/HS) dans les zones d’implantation du PROCASEF- Avril 2021

Hello, dear members, we are pleased to share with you Senegal’s contribution on the agricultural sector.

In this regard it is worth noting that the level of official recognition of land ownership rights is low, with the majority of plots (90%) being owned without any official administrative formality. However, an administrative document is important for securing land tenure. In Senegal women's access to agricultural land is relatively low. Nevertheless, the proportion of women among plot owners has increased from 14.7% to 19.3% between 2019 and 2020, due to women's involvement in farming food crops, particularly rainfed rice in the South. Lowland rice is a crop that is mainly cultivated in the South and is particularly dominated by women. In addition to the low level of access to land for women, the average area they cultivate is twice as small as that of men. This illustrates that in addition to women's low access to land, they do not possess big land plots. Although marginalised in agricultural production systems, women play a major role in food production and therefore in the food supply of households, especially in rural areas.

It should also be noted that distribution of planted land plots based on farmers’ gender accounted for 81% for men and 19% for women in 2020. Difficulties in accessing land for women and young people. Indeed, 46.7% of women and 53.3% of young people say that land is insufficient and scarce. Although young people experience more difficulties in accessing land because of the women's coalitions and associations (women’s promotion groups), more women are excluded (70.8%) and discriminated in terms of land because of their social status (marriage, widows) [1]. Thus, the female agricultural entrepreneurship index is 0.2, which means that there are about 2 female farmers for every 10 male farmers.

[1] Diagnostic study report for the development of an action plan on gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and abuse/sexual harassment (GBV, SEA/SH) in implementation areas of the Land Register and Land Tenure Security Project—April 2021

The United States Government welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Zero Draft of the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girl’s Empowerment in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition.

As the Voluntary Guidelines continue to develop, the United States believes it is important for the workstream to remain focused on its intended scope. The GEWE has the potential to support CFS’s stakeholders in developing policies and implementing practices that promote gender equality and empower women and girls, accelerating progress toward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Remaining aligned with this goal is essential for producing policy guidance that is useful for policy makers and implementers. It was with this goal in mind that the CFS Plenary defined the scope of the GEWE in the Multi-Year-Program of Work (MYPoW) 2020-2023 as:

“Through the VGs, CFS will address specific gaps and problems in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in the food and agriculture sector, and identify transformative interventions that can eliminate structural discrimination against women and girls and lead to improved food security and nutrition.”

The Scope of the GEWE was further defined by CFS 47 in the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the GEWE.  The ToRs focus the GEWE on the “use of transformative approaches that are able to tackle both the symptoms and the structural causes of general inequalities with the aim of achieving lasting change in terms of the power and choice women have over their own lives.”  This targeted approach agreed by the CFS Plenary would exclude a number of food security and nutrition related topics including trade, agricultural production methods, and economic sanctions.  Not only would discussion on these topics distract from the central focus of the GEWE, but many of these subjects have already been discussed at length during the policy convergence process for the Voluntary Guidelines on Food Security and Nutrition (VGFSyN) and the Policy Recommendations on Agroecological and Other Innovative Approaches (AOIA).  There is no need to repeat those discussions in the GEWE.

Finally, it is outside CFS’s mandate to redefine internationally agreed human rights language. The  United States emphasizes the need to use internationally agreed language on human rights and suggests that the CFS Secretariat make use of the relevant human rights language in prior CFS policy products including the VGFSyN and the AOIA in the GEWE.

Additional comments per section can be found in the attached document.

Sincerely

Aslihan Kes

Message from the facilitator

Dear FSN Forum members and dear participants in the CFS Gender Regional Consultations,

Here I am again, to tell you about some of the points discussed during the last CFS regional consultation. I remind you that the two-day webcast is available on the webpage, while the Co-Chairs' summary will be published soon. This consultation for the North America region was not exactly like the others, given its "regional dimension" limited to only two countries, but it was very well attended and participatory as well. The event saw the presence of several experts on behalf of governmental institutions of Canada and the USA, numerous civil society and private sector representatives, and some experts from academia.

We appreciated also the presence and the contributions as keynote speakers of Ambassador Gabriel Ferrero de Loma-Osorio, CFS Chairperson; Mr Paul Samson, Assistant Deputy Minister, Programs Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Ms Maura Barry Boyle, Senior Deputy Assistant to the Administrator & Interim Global Water Coordinator, USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security; and Ms Joanna Veltri, Chief, IFAD Americas Liaison Office, who delivered a Joint Statement on behalf of FAO, IFAD and WFP.

On the second day the discussion focused on sections 3.1, 3.2 and 3.6 of the Zero Draft.

Last week, on 25 November, we commemorated the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and in this message I would like to focus on this topic in relation to our Voluntary Guidelines (VGs). As many of you might already know, one of the sections of the Zero Draft (Section 3.2) is dedicated to the elimination of violence and discrimination against women for improved food security and nutrition.

The COVID-19 pandemic, violent conflicts, humanitarian crises and climate-related disasters have led to a further intensification of violence against women, highlighting the need for urgent action.

However, evidence exists that violence against women and girls can be ended if a comprehensive approach is taken that tackles the root causes of the problem, transforms harmful social norms, ensures that survivors are provided with the services they need, and ends impunity.

In fact, among the various interventions in the North America Regional Consultation, some experts highlighted that women facing gender-based violence (GBV) often stay where they are because they do not see a way out. In addition to addressing the root causes of GBV, as policy areas and actions to be included in the VGs they suggested to focus on building women’s resilience, to make them able to escape situations of abuse and to be empowered. In this direction, participants also raised the need to ensure adequate and accessible provision of publicly funded services to women survivors of GBV.

One participant reported that throughout North America, indigenous women are especially vulnerable to severe violence, highlighting that both the US and Canada have initiatives to address "Missing and murdered Indigenous Women". She affirmed the need to expressly address and step-up security and justice for indigenous women and for others facing particular discrimination in the social system.

Participants also stressed other key challenges and barriers, including the risk for some women in leadership positions who often become target of violence and the need to think on how to combat this issue, and the necessity for a better analysis of the linkages between GBV and humanitarian crises, including COVID-19 and climate disasters.

Finally, as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women reminds us, we all have a role to play to achieve a brighter future free from violence. I trust the Voluntary Guidelines can create extraordinary momentum and promote commitment to the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls in the context of food security and nutrition.

Thank you all for your attention and for your appreciated contribution to the development of this policy product.

Yours,

Marina Calvino

CFS Secretariat

The Zero draft comprehensively addresses the main challenges of gender equality. However, the empowerment of women and girls in context of food and nutrition security embodies an element of access to affordable food and access to resources for food production. In this regard, empowerment is a process which requires fixing the disparities in access to productive resources and sources of income at grassroots. Title to land and income sources in most traditional societies are controlled by men and hence involving men from the onset is important to avoid backlash from men and increased violence against women as pushback against empowerment initiatives. There is need for awareness raising and engagement of men regarding efforts for empowering women and girls with respect to nutrition and food security, as this may require relinquishing power over resources or being more perceptive about the role of women food and nutrition security. I think involving men in some aspects of the broader discussions should take precedence. It is also critical to have female-only space or engagement for women and girls to reflect their unique perspectives and values in ensuring food and nutrition security to themselves and whole society.

Charity Kruger 

Center for Environment Agricultural Research and Advocacy (CEARA)

Some keywords that are germane to gender equality are consideration, acceptance, empathy and love. In the context of food security and nutrition, gaps need to be filled. Those disadvantaged in terms of production resources and decision on output including nutrition should be deliberately targeted. The vulnerable ones in most societies especially developing nations are usually women and girls. Therefore, the socialization process from the cradle and the value system will have to be sensitized with focus on the keywords for better awareness of gender equality. A lot of achievements have been made which could improve with time.