Promoting Gender Equality in Agriculture : A Simple Act For Future Food Security And Economic Welfare #WCY2014
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Agriculture,
Food Security,
Gender Equality,
International Women's Day,
Poverty Eradication,
WCY2014
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“Don’t underestimate
the details, it can mislead you to find the best solution”
- Woka Aditama -
The quotes above are coming , rightly after I came back from
Canada for attending Youth Agricultural Summit last year. A week of discussion there about food insecurity , had open my eyes that a
simple issue such as gender equality, could be so impactful to maximize world
agricultural productivity. Yes, its not talking about complicated topics such
as high - technology for farmers or any scientific Genetically Modified (GMO)
who only could be done by particular experts. And today, commemorate International Women’s Day
on March 8, I think it’s a perfect
time to talk about promoting women's role
in agriculture.
The meme above approximately describe the ‘principle’ thing
in this article. So if you get lost about the topics, don’t worry. Just see back on that meme.
Many solutions from worldwide experts and world leaders have been implemented to overcome a poverty and increase food
security. Mostly of those solutions are focus to developing countries in terms
to increase yields in agricultural
production. Because this improvement will make affect in improvement of food
security and at once elevate farmers economy welfare itself.
But, have it ever cross in your mind that all those great
solutions might be a part of problems itself in agriculture?
The fact that happened in many developing countries is the
unfair access of women in agriculture. Yes, mostly the programs from that taken
by the government of developing countries are focusing on existed farmers only
which is dominated by men, not trying to promote the participation rate of
women in agricultural sector.
Based on Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 2011, Women
play a vital role in advancing agricultural development and food security. But
women face many constraints in the multiple activities they pursue – less land
ownership, access to credit, extension and other services, and ability to hire
labor.
We can take an example from Indonesia, the biggest
archipelago country in the world with various vegetations. The total farmers in
this country are dominated by mens in every sub-sectors. For details, take a
look on below infograph.
.jpg) |
| Designed by : Woka Aditama |
Women are just as efficient agricultural producers as men
and can achieve similar yields when given equal access to resources, including
training and services. The fact which is stated in Raising the Productivity of Women Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (1994) published by World Bank, researchers
found that women in Kenya could increase their crop yields by approximately 20
percent if given the same access to the same resources as men.
In 2011, FAO released its estimation that if women had the same access to
productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30
percent. This increase could raise total agricultural output in developing
countries by 2.5 to 4 percent and reduce the number of hungry people in the world
by 12 to 17 percent, up to 150 million people.
All the points described above show how the best idea from
our expert could be meaningless if it doesn’t implemented to the right target.
Simple but if you underestimate it, even the best concept would be in vain.
But the good news from this is, even a common people like us could be actively contribute
to promote this gender equality in agriculture of developing countries. We don’t
need a special skill or government authority to do this action right away.
You can start it by share this article to your friend
through social media account or others media and then giving understanding to other youth people you know about the importance of equality issue in agriculture. By doing this, It means
you have participated in positive movement to change our generation’s perspective towards food
security and poverty eradication in the future. Because if doing a simple thing could trigger a big failure, of course simple thing also could trigger a huge positive impact. So, for a better life, please ACT
NOW !
Sources:
-
Clinton Women Anda Agricultural Report 2011,
-
Statistics Indonesia, Agricultural Census 2013,
http://www.hki.org/research/Women%20and%20Agriculture_Dept%20of%20Sate_9.2011.pdf
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of
United Nations,
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