The slide presents the roles of Women in the attainment of food security including the barriers and the way forward.

1. GENDER ROLES IN FOOD
SECURITY
KOLLIESUAH, NELSON PAPI
GULU UNIVERSITY

2. WHAT IS GENDER?
• Socially constructed characteristics of women and men –
such as norms, roles and relationships of and between
groups of women and men.
• It varies from society to society and can be changed!

3. Women Roles in Food and Nutrition
Security
Women take care of domestic chores:
- collecting water and firewood
- crop and livestock farming/Animal Husbandry
- sell harvest
- Care (Health) and education of families
- Fishing

4. Women Roles in Food and Nutrition
Security
• Select and prepare foods
• Income and investment in families
• What else???

5. Factors affecting Women’s roles in
Food Security
• Limited access to land (less than 10% have access in Nepal,
India, Thailand) – traditional land tenure systems denied them
ownership (without land, they are denied access to
cooperatives)
• Lack access to collateral - No land or permanent access!
• Limited access to education (Cultural)

6. Factors affecting Women Women’s
roles in Food Security
• Fewer employment – lower wages, less access to
resources, less involvement in decision making, lower
enrollment
• Limited access to credit
• Limited access to information and technology
• Low level participation in decision making

7. Factors affecting Women Women’s
roles in Food Security
• Limited access to inputs/agricultural resources
• Early marriage – nutrition during life cycle

8. Breaking the barriers
• Women rights to food: right to education, trainings and extension
services, employment etc.
• Access to land and natural resources: reforming of laws on tenure
and land and resources distribution including marital and
inheritance laws, to become gender equal
• - Recognize customary land rights and work with - peasant
unions, village authorities (Culture stronger than laws in some
areas).
• Experience from Papua New Guinea!

9. Breaking the barriers
• Women’s equal participation in labor markets:
• improved access to education( reduces wage gap)
• Skills building in extension and vocational trainings
• policies actions towards school enrollment of girls,
• health interventions (immunization, nutrition in the life cycle),
• conditional cash transfer programs

10. Breaking the barriers
• Women’s access to financial services:
- Offer financial literacy training
- Improving social capital ( access to Rotating credits and
savings Associations (ROCSA))
• - Use technology and innovative delivery channels –
mobile phone payment, prepaid cards

11. Breaking the barriers
• Closing the technology gap:
• - Introduction of water sources – hand pumps avoid long
distances (school enrollment rose by 20% in Morocco).
• Used of improved inputs and extension services (Long handle
hoes ease burden for women compared to short ones in Burkina
Faso, Zambia and Zimbabwe)
• Hiring female extension agents deliver needed results
• Scaling farmers field school