Despite the fact that women in developing countries provide nearly 70 percent of the agricultural labor, they continue to account for over 60 percent of the world’s hungry. Lack of gender equality limits a woman farmer’s access to agricultural inputs, credit services and a market to sell her products. These constraints lead to lower crop yields, produce sold at a lower price and, ultimately, continued poverty and hunger for her and her children. Gender-equal access to these agriculture resources could increase the average woman farmer’s crop yields by 20-30 percent. Given the opportunity to generate and control an income, women routinely invest significant portions of their income in food, healthcare and education for their families. Unfortunately, at the moment, the majority of women in developing countries lack economic power, resulting in a higher rate of girls kept out of school, minimal access to basic health care, increased HIV/AIDS prevalence and higher maternal mortality rates. Yet women continue to bear almost all responsibility for meeting the basic needs of the family. A proven way to overcome many systematic barriers to a woman’s success has been increased participation by women in local, regional and national legislation as empowered change agents. In just 10 years, the amount of women holding seats in houses of national parliament in South Asia rose from seven to 18 percent. But a global goal of equal representation is still a long way off, with only one woman for every four men in parliamentary houses. The Hunger Project recognizes the global gender imbalance of power and responsibility and empowers women to build their capacity and self-reliance as a way of overcoming obstacles. THP firmly believes that empowering women to be key change agents is an essential element to achieving the end of hunger and poverty. Women’s Leadership Workshops in India, a Women’s Empowerment Program throughout Africa and specialized animator trainings worldwide empower women to seek positions of power and train all of our partners, women and men, to take responsibility for improving lives in their communities. margimagazine #MargiMagazine
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 06:18:03 +0000
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