Resilience and adaptation to shocksCoping mechanisms and resilience to climate change, disasters and conflict are negatively affected by gender inequalities. The multiple and often overlapping causes of fragility and different forms of discrimination affecting women and girls have significant implications for women's livelihoods and opportunities within agrifood systems. Globally, 22 percent of women lost their jobs in the agrifood system in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to only 2 percent of men. Also the gap between men and women living in food insecurity widened from 1.7 percentage points in 2019 to 4.3 percentage points in 2021.37

LEGISLATION, POLICIES AND ACTIONSFAO recognizes that there are three key ways that parliamentarians can transform agrifood systems and achieve gender equality.

1 First, the collection and use of high-quality data, disaggregated by sex, age and other forms of social and economic differentiation, and the application of rigorous qualitative and quantitative gender research are essential to effectively monitor and evaluate gender equality in agrifood systems and accelerate the rate of progress in achieving it.

2 Second, localized interventions that address multiple inequalities and that have been shown to reduce gender gaps and empower women in agrifood systems need to be carefully scaled up, taking into account the local context. Scaling up can occur through policy channels, through higher levels of investment, or through uptake by public and private sector stakeholders. We can only achieve major gains for women's well-being, as well as for economic growth and food security, by scaling up.

3 Last, interventions must be designed to end gender inequality and empower women and, where possible, should use transformative approaches at community and national level to address discriminatory gender norms and attitudes.

To achieve these goals, we must increase women’s empowerment. This is essential to their well-being and positively influences agricultural production, food security, diet and child nutrition through the following actions38.

Transformative gender approaches aimed at changing restrictive social standards are cost-effective and offer high returns if implemented on a large scale.

Improving women's rights to land ownership or secure tenure of agricultural land positively influences women's empowerment, investment, natural resource management, access to services and institutions, resilience and food security. It also reduces gender-based violence and increases women's bargaining power.

Access to formal childcare services has a major positive impact on the employment of mothers and on the performance of activities related to agrifood systems.

Improving women's access to agricultural extension services – education, training, access to financial resources, technology and assets – is important for increasing food security and facilitating women's participation in the agrifood system as a whole.

37 FAO. (2023). The status of women in agrifood systems. Rome. (https://doi.org/10.4060/cc5343en). 38 FAO. (2023). The status of women in agrifood systems. Rome. (https://doi.org/10.4060/cc5343en).

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