Page 4 - AWA_No_7 A & E copy.indd

FAO leads new initiative and reinforces its commitment to
accelerate gender equality efforts in agrifood systems

Correcting the gender gap in agrifood households and their communities, well as for Members, businesses, pro-
systems would dramatically reduce the particularly in rural areas,” he said. ducer organizations and local authori-
worldwide hunger rate, raise the in- ties, the matrix puts particular empha-
comes of hundreds of millions of peo- High-level speakers at the CGE event sis on e!orts to close the gender wage
ple and add $1 trillion to global gross included ministers from Ireland, Nor- and productivity gaps, as well as ways
domestic product, o!ering one of the way and Türkiye among others, some of to increase data, research and evidence.
most e!ective pathways towards the whom announced new resource com-
common objectives of the Sustainable mitments to the initiative. Others in- Exemplary objectives include increas-
Development Goals (SDGs). cluded representatives from Brazil, the ing commitments to direct procure-
United Kingdom, the United States of
Some 75 percent of agricultural and America, Zambia and other Members, ment from women entrepreneurs,
rural development policy documents as well as major UN agencies, multilat- increasing gender parity in corporate
from 68 developing countries recog- eral institutions, non-governmental or- leadership positions, provision of train-
nize women’s roles and challenges, ganizations and the private sector. ing for upskilling of women working
indicating awareness of the issue. Yet in agrifood supply chains, policies and
only 19 percent of these have actual The CGE initiative, formally begun programmes to increase access to child
policy goals related to gender, under- earlier this year, has attracted partners care, credit and technology, and inten-
scoring the need for more focus and across sectors and could bene"t up to si"ed e!orts to collect sex and age-
commitment. 54 million women worldwide, more
than one of every 10 women working disaggregated data for farm plot sizes,
With the aim of promoting greater in agrifood systems. To support this, an ownership, revenues and the like.
alignment of policy and outcomes on estimated $1 billion of investments will How FAO is showing
gender, the Food and Agriculture Or- initially be aligned to CGE.
ganization of the United Nations (FAO) How it works commitment
has launched Commit to Grow Equality Director-General Qu , highlighted
(CGE), a mechanism to accelerate gen- Central to the Commit to Grow Equal-
der equality and women’s empower- ity initiative is a Commitments Matrix, three high-salience and speci"c objec-
ment in agrifood systems through "- which enables stakeholders to consider tives FAO will pursue in the coming
nancing, investments and partnerships and articulate the concrete commit- years.
by enabling a diverse range of actors to ments that can be brought to make a First, FAO commits to track gender-
report against a strategic set of com- tangible di!erence in the lives of wom- transformative actions in all of its
mitments. en and girls.
projects and assure they feature in 10
“We have the evidence to show us One of the overarching objectives is percent of them by 2030. Gender-trans-
how to overcome gender gaps – evi- to increase the number and value of formative approaches show promise in
dence that calls upon all of us to act, projects that are gender transformative changing discriminatory social norms,
collectively and urgently,” FAO Director- from the design through implementa- are cost-e!ective and have high re-
General QU Dongyu said at “Commit to tion stages. Others include increasing turns, improving food security, nutri-
Grow Equality: Invest in the Future of linkages and synergies between "- tion and livelihood outcomes for wom-
Women and Girls”, a high-level action nancial commitments being made on en, households and communities.
event pitching CGE during the UN Gen- climate change, resilience and other
eral Assembly. areas, and bolstering and expanding The Director-General also noted that
partnerships between the array of ac- the UN has announced that 2026 will
“Closing these gaps and empower- tors pursuing policies and investments
ing women and girls in agrifood sys- to promote gender equality and wom- be the International Year of the Woman
tems would greatly improve economic en’s empowerment in agrifood systems. Farmer and FAO looks forward to coor-
growth, food security, access to healthy dinating with partners to implement-
diets and resilience for women, their For donors and project sponsors as ing related activities.

In The Next Issue
Main Features

Poultry
Breeding/Feeding systems
Hatcheries and incubators
Poultry health and medicines
Prefabricated housing Advertise
Horticulture in the
Tractors and Combine Harvesters Next issue
Climate control facilities / Greenhouses
Horticultural implements / Mushroom cultivation & promote your
Seeds and plantstock, Hybrid seeds products !
Cut flowers and indoor plants
Agriculture Products and Services
Fisheries and Fish Farming
Breeding of fish / Fish feeds and fisheries equipment
Show Review:
Saudi Agriculture 2024

2 Vol. 40 No. 7