FAO Report Reveals Gender Disparities in Agriculture Causing USD 1 Trillion Global Loss

Agrifood systems employ more than one-third of the world's working women, and encompass the production of food and non-food agricultural goods, as well as related activities ranging from food storage, transportation, and processing through distribution.

However, according to a new FAO analysis, gender disadvantages such as fewer access for women to knowledge and resources, as well as a higher unpaid care burden, explain for a 24% difference in productivity between women and men farmers on farms of same size.

Women in the agriculture sector are likewise paid roughly 20% less than their male counterparts. "If we address the endemic gender inequalities in agrifood systems and empower women, the world will make significant progress towards the goals of ending poverty and creating a world free of hunger," stated FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu.

Closing the gender gap in farm production and the wage disparity in agricultural employment, according to FAO, would "increase global gross domestic product by nearly $1 trillion and reduce the number of food-insecure people by 45 million" at a time when global hunger is on the rise.

According to the research, women have less access to land, services, credit, and digital technology than males, and a heavier burden of unpaid care limits their possibilities for education, training, and work. According to FAO, discriminatory social norms create gender obstacles to expertise, resources, and social networks, preventing women from contributing equally in the agrifood sector.

"There is still much to be done in many countries to ensure that women own land in proportion to men and that legal frameworks protect their rights," says the report. The poor pace of progress in terms of women farmers' access to livestock and basics like as irrigation and fertilizers is described as "alarming" by the authors. In agrifood systems, "women's roles tend to be marginalized, and their working conditions are likely to be worse than men's - irregular, informal, part-time, low-skilled, or labour-intensive," according to the research.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, "challenges to women's full and equal participation" exist. Employment in agrifood systems reduces productivity and maintains pay disparities. According to the analysis, levelling the playing field in terms of farm productivity and agricultural salaries would contribute 1% to global GDP, or over $1 trillion, and reduce food insecurity by two percentage points, benefiting 45 million people.

This is an eye-catching projection at a time when world hunger is on the rise. According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), more than 345 million people globally experience food insecurity this year, a rise of about 200 million since early 2020. Of these, 43 million are on the verge of starvation.

The authors of the report also demonstrate that agricultural projects that especially empower women have broad economic and social benefits. According to FAO, "if half of small-scale producers benefited from development interventions focusing on women's empowerment, it would significantly increase the incomes of an additional 58 million people and increase the resilience of an additional 235 million." The extent to which women are employed in agrifood systems in several developing countries demonstrates the potential influence of equality-promoting policies.

In Southern Asia, for example, 71% of all working women (against 47% of men) are employed in the field. ‘Make agrifood systems work for women’ Monitoring and accelerating progress on gender equality in agrifood systems, according to FAO, is dependent on "the collection and use of high-quality data, disaggregated by sex, age, and other forms of social and economic differentiation," which is currently absent, as well as rigorous gender research. On a policy level, the report's authors advocate for immediate action to "close gaps in access to assets, technology, and resources."

According to them, increasing women's output in the agrifood sector necessitates initiatives that "address care and unpaid domestic work burdens, provide education and training, and strengthen land-tenure security." FAO also supports social protection measures that "have been shown to increase women's employment and resilience." Indeed, the UN agency's analysis emphasizes that "when economies contract, women's jobs are among the first to go," as has been the case during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Women have always worked in agricultural and food systems." "It is past time to make agrifood systems work for women," Qu wrote in the report's foreword.