Land-related investments in agriculture can greatly impact rural people’s lives. One of the main conclusions drawn from four FAO studies is that women’s livelihoods were improved when private investors took measures to increase women’s participation in agricultural land-related investments.

Securing water is critical to achieve food security and improve rural livelihoods, especially for the women and men living in arid and semi-arid areas. But accessing this scarce resource can be difficult for those engaged in rural agriculture, women in particular.

Compared to men, women are frequently disadvantaged in their access to and control over forest resources and in their ability to take advantage of economic opportunities, according to an FAO paper that calls for action on gender disparities in the forestry sector.

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.