Food security and gender equality: A synergistic understudied symphony

CARE Canada believes that gender equality and food security are intimately linked. We know that the way women work in and benefit from agriculture is defined by deeply rooted and gender-based social norms that create huge barriers for women to seize their rights to land, food, economic opportunity. We also know that as climate change alters the landscape there is a dramatic increase in competition for agricultural inputs and resources like land and labour.  Women farmers lose out too often to men—and often face more gender-based violence as a result.

Many experts in food security have said for years that investing in agriculture and gender equality together delivers greater resilience than just investing in agriculture alone.   For the first time, CARE’s research shows a definitive correlation between gender equality and food security. Around the world the same countries which struggle the most with food insecurity are also the most gender unequal.  These same countries are amongst the 10% of countries most vulnerable to climate change.

This recently published study reveals that—across 109 countries—as gender equality drops, more people struggle to access nutritious food. It also shows that today 150 million more women than men are food insecurity; this is over 8 times the gap that existed before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Publication Date: 27/07/2022