ICTs as drivers of rural women’s empowerment.

"In the programme we are taught to take care of the small children. They have to eat enriched porridge," she says.

Women learn new skills to fight hunger and help their communities.

The purpose of FFS is not only to build the technical capacity of farmers but also to contribute to community development including gender equality and social inclusion.

FAO is working in over 50 countries, before, during and after crises to provide emergency assistance to those that depend on agriculture to survive.

An FAO climate-smart agriculture project is helping families in Nepal, like Ashmita’s, to improve their yields and livelihoods, giving them alternatives to migrating abroad.

Zinetemam Adem is 22 years old and lives in Kalu, in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia. Like many young men and women in the country, she faced the tough decision of whether to stay or leave.

Faced with the worst drought in living memory, more than 1 million people were forced to flee their homes last year as hunger tightened its grip, pushing the country to the brink of famine.

Agriculture is currently facing many challenges such as decreased productivity and limited market access to sell produce. This is making it difficult for the sector to serve as a primary source of income for Egypt’s increasingly unemployed population.

While gender equality in Guatemala has improved in recent years, male hegemony still strongly characterizes the culture, particularly in rural areas.

An FAO program in Yemen is helping farmers take advantage of dam water to improve sustainability, while simultaneously giving women more opportunities to participate in the country’s conservative decision-making process.

“Introducing the new ovens will help to make the fish value chain in Sri Lanka more productive and profitable for the poorest families,” said FAO’s Representative in Sri Lanka Nina Brandstrup.

With this project, Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture, FAO and the Global Environment Facility are helping hundreds of women farmers, like Laxmi, to improve their yields and incomes.

In Guatemala, young women and men often hold precarious jobs in the informal rural economy, earning half of the minimum national wage. Increasingly, they try to migrate to urban areas or abroad as a last desperate resort for making a living.

“It is up to us, the women, to find money to feed the family at this time of the year,” explains Sanihan, who lives in the village of Baramadougou, in Mali, with thirteen other members of her family.

On average, women make up about 50 percent of the agricultural labour force in sub-Saharan Africa. However, they are often disadvantaged in their access to productive resources, markets and market information, financial services, technology, training, and

The workshop aimed to raise awareness of the importance of management for adaptation and the sustainable use of natural resources. It also sought to facilitate the critical analysis of women´s role in decision-making.

Around 900 vulnerable women, including from women headed households, are being assisted through an FAO initiative to improve household nutrition and rebuild livelihoods in vulnerable communities.

Across rural Lebanon, FAO is helping women dairy producers and processors to improve standards, diversify output and increase income.

There are nearly 75 000 South Sudanese refugees registered in the provinces of Ituri and Haut-Uélé in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.