Women can greatly improve food security by working as labourers on farms or as farmers, but compared to men they have fewer opportunities and resources, making it difficult to enter the sector.
According to the SOFA report, if women in rural areas had the same access to land, technology, financial services, education and market opportunities as men, agricultural production could be increased, and the number of hungry people in the world could be reduced substantially. Although many women are involved in agriculture at a subsistence level, they must graduate to commercial production to further improve food production globally.
A look at the numbers
According to the SOFA report, women constitute approximately 43% of the global agricultural labour force. Of all regions in the world, Asia makes up most of this percentage. Eastern and south-eastern Asia takes the lead with 50% of women in the agricultural labour force and southern Asia with 35%. In India women make up just over 30% of the labour force.
In sub-Saharan Africa, women make up almost 50% of the agricultural labour force, and comprise a large share of smallholder farmers. Women in developing countries commonly farm at a subsistence level to produce food for their families. This is also true in South Africa, where women constitute 60 to 80% of all smallholder farmers. As subsistence farmers, many women are responsible for looking after household crops and livestock. According to the International Livestock Research Institute, two-thirds of all poor livestock keepers are women.
Bu hikaye FarmBiz dergisinin February 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
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