Rethink food production system to reward women, expert says
Women pick coffee at a farm in Nyeri County.
Africa needs to re-organise its food production system to ensure that women reap maximum benefits from farm work, a policy and systems expert has said.
Dr Sam Oti, a senior programme specialist at the Global Health Division of Canada’s International Development (IDRC) made the appeal as he addressed participants at the Fourth African Conference of Science Journalists hosted by the Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (Mesha).
The virtual event attracted 375 participants from across the continent including scientists, science journalists, government officials and experts in public health, health financing, medical research and policy formulation.
Dr Oti said food supply inequalities across the globe adversely affects the poor, including women who work on the farms.
Gendered inequalities
Women, who form the bulk of those engaged in farm work, he said, are also less likely than men to benefit from agriculture related activities, but more prone to suffer the ill effects of scarce or extra food.
“Gendered inequalities in food production limits women, who constitute the bulk of smallholder farmers, from significantly participating in profitable, value addition components in the food system,” he said.
Dr Oti advocated for a revised food system that would properly reward women’s participation in the agricultural sector, saying this would bridge the earnings gap between women and men.
“To address the economic disparities between men and women in the sector, we need to find ways to increase women’s power and influence in food systems,” said the expert.
He termed the disadvantage suffered by women “a gap that Africa could bridge by rethinking the way food was produced in order to ensure they get the financial benefits of participating in farm work”.
“We need to redesign the food system in such a way that the power and influence of women is increased to a level where they can earn their fair share from their investment on the farm just like their male counterparts,” said Dr Oti.
Disproportionate burden
A report entitled by the Brookings Institute on labour inequalities on the continent entitled Foresight Africa 2020 indicates that women in families with low income are forced to work on the farm or in household enterprises.
“As the economy advances and the family increases, the family ‘buys’ back women’s or wives’ time for home production, such as taking care of children or the elderly. The exclusion of women from manual jobs, such as manufacturing or agriculture, due to social stigma and discrimination, also contribute to the decline in the female labour force participation (FLFP) rate,” says the report.
The report also highlights the need for changes in policies to accommodate women in the business sector.
“Policies and business reforms should also address challenges faced by female entrepreneurs in the formal sector, including limited access to finance, poor governance and lack of infrastructure,” says the report.
The IDRC official said women were disadvantaged by the lack of food or availability of fattening foods.
“Compared to men, women bear a disproportionate burden of food-related health outcomes such as obesity or undernutrition,” added Dr Oti.
The 2020 United Nations Global Nutrition Report indicates that one in every nine people, or approximately 11 per cent of the world’s population, are affected by stunting.
United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) data also shows that one in every five children aged under five are stunted.
Diet choices
“Meanwhile, our world has transitioned to one in which more people of all ages are obese than underweight, with one in three people either overweight or obese. Among children under five, 149m or 21.9 per cent are stunted, while 49.5m or 7.3 per cent are wasted, with 40.1m or 5.9 per cent classified as overweight,” the report reads.
Demographic and health survey data shows that Egypt has the highest prevalence of obesity at 39 per cent, with Ghana ranked second at 22 per cent. Over the last 25 years, obesity rates have doubled in Uganda, Benin, Niger, Ivory Coast and Rwanda.
Meanwhile, the rates have tripled in Malawi, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Mali and Tanzania. Urban women were the most affected by the bulge, attributed to an increase in the consumption of processed, high fat, high calory foods coupled with a sedentary and inactive lifestyle.
Dr Oti regretted the modern but careless tendency to waste the world’s natural resources and degrade the environment in pursuit of commercial agricultural profits.
“We are literally eating ourselves to death. Today, we use one third of the planet’s surface to produce food. Yet no country has managed to lower its obesity rates in the last 33 years,” said Dr Oti.
He recommended the roll out of public consumer education to enable Africans, particularly women, make better diet choices for their families.
