#SheFeedstheWorld – Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment for a Food Secure World
As COVID-19 exposed the vulnerability in our food system, this briefing underscored why empowering women and closing the gender gap is central to addressing global food security and why women need to be at the center of COVID-19 response efforts.
Women are a critical force in agriculture and food systems worldwide. However, they are disproportionately affected by hunger and malnutrition. As producers, women have less access to resources, assets, and access to credit. To raise awareness about how empowering women brings us closer to our goals of eradicating hunger, ensuring food security and eliminating all forms of malnutrition, FAO North America and CARE USA hosted a virtual Congressional Briefing. The session featured Senator John Boozman of Arkansas, Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and experts from FAO, CARE USA, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
“We cannot achieve inclusive and sustainable food systems, eliminate hunger and malnutrition, or achieve sustainable development without women’s empowerment and gender equity,” underscored Vimlendra Sharan, Director of FAO North America in his opening remarks. FAO estimates that if women had access to the same productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30 percent, and this, in turn, could reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17 percent, Sharan cited.
“For every US$1 USD 1 we invest in women and food security, communities see a US$31 return on investment,” said Maureen Miruka, Director for Gender, Youth and Livelihoods at CARE USA. “Gender equality can unlock the potential of women farmers who are otherwise overlooked by the system.”
Senator Boozman was pleased by the focus on women’s empowerment. “All of the data says that if you empower women, make it such that they do well, children do well, communities do well, states and countries do well,” said Senator Boozman.