FAO Initiative Aims to Empower 54 Million Women and Close Gender Gaps in Agrifood Systems

Addressing the gender gap in agrifood systems could help reduce global hunger, increase incomes, and add USD 1 trillion to the global GDP, making it crucial for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite women's essential role in agriculture, only 19 percent of rural development policies in 68 developing countries address gender issues. To address this, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has launched the Commit to Grow Equality (CGE) initiative to promote gender equality and empower women in agrifood systems.

This initiative aims to accelerate progress by fostering investments, partnerships, and strategic commitments across various sectors. According to FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, overcoming gender gaps is crucial to boosting economic growth, food security, and resilience, especially for rural women and their communities.

Launched earlier this year, the CGE initiative was highlighted at a high-level action event, "Commit to Grow Equality: Invest in the Future of Women and Girls," held during the UN General Assembly. The event brought together ministers and representatives from countries such as Ireland, Norway, Türkiye, Brazil, the USA, and Zambia, along with key stakeholders from UN agencies, NGOs, and the private sector. Some participants even announced new resource commitments to support the initiative, which could potentially benefit up to 54 million women globally—over 10 percent of women employed in agrifood systems.

The CGE initiative relies on a Commitments Matrix, a framework designed to guide stakeholders in making meaningful contributions to gender equality in agrifood systems. Key goals include increasing the number and value of gender-transformative projects from inception to execution, strengthening partnerships, and aligning financial commitments with broader goals like climate resilience and economic development. The matrix also emphasizes closing gender wage and productivity gaps and boosting data collection efforts to better understand women’s roles in agriculture.

Specific objectives of the CGE initiative include supporting women entrepreneurs, promoting gender parity in leadership positions, providing skill development training for women in agrifood supply chains, and ensuring access to essential services such as childcare, credit, and technology.

The initiative also focuses on collecting sex-disaggregated data to improve policy planning and implementation.