WOMEN & GENDER IN DRYLANDS – Gender Inequity In Agriculture
Global Forum on Agricultural Research – GFAR
Direct Link to Full 8-Page 2016 Publication – Multiple Photos
https://drylandsystems.exposure.co/women-and-gender-in-drylands
Drylands cover approximately 41 percent of the world’s land surface and are a direct source of livelihood for 2.3 billion people or 1/3 of the world’s population. About 90% of these live in 100 developing countries. Nearly all these people – including women and children, and the drylands on which they depend, are at constant risk from land degradation and desertification due to climate change, increasing human population, depleting natural resources, and poverty.
Drylands pose different challenges for rural men and women because of their different roles, relations and responsibilities, opportunities and constraints, and unequal control of and access to agricultural resources.
Moreover, many policies and development interventions have often failed to recognise women’s specific needs, and their crucial role and contribution to dryland agricultural systems.
GENDER INEQUITY & DISCRIMINATION IN DRYLANDS
Reliable sex- and age-disaggregated statistics on roles and responsibilities in rural dryland agricultural activities are hard to come by. Despite their multiple roles, women’s access to and control over natural resources (such as land) and agricultural support services (including credit, extension services, etc.) are often limited due to complex interrelated social, economic and cultural factors. These factors force women into subordinate roles, hamper their productivity and limit their participation in critical decision-making processes. In general, women in rural drylands have little authority and often must seek permission of their husbands, fathers or brothers before committing resources or taking action in their farms and households. The combined result of unequal social, cultural and economic structures and limited political and organisational influence creates and exacerbates gender discrimination in rural drylands, which translates into women’s marginalisation, poverty, food insecurity, and limited access to opportunities and resources. This vicious circle is likely to worsen in the face of today’s unprecedented challenges, including climate change, severe population displacement and migration, transboundary infectious diseases, terrorism and extreme violence against women and girls, and widespread instability and crises in many regions of the world.
