Women: the key to food security

WOMEN: THE KEY TO FOOD SECURITYAGNES R. QUISUM3ING + LYNN R. BROWN • HILARY SIMS FELDSTEIN + LAWRENCE HADDAD - CHRISTINE PENAFOODPOLICYREPORTTHE INTERNATIONAL FOODPOLICYRESEARCHINSTITUTEWashington, D.C. INTERNATIONAL The Internationol Food Potiay Resoarch Institute was oslabfishedFOODiz 1976 to identify and analyze aiternative national and interna-POLICYtic nal strategies and policies for meesing foad needs of tra deval-RESEARCHcoing woric on a sustainable basis, with particular crphasis onIsw-income countries and an the ocorer grougs in trose cou.stries.INSTITUTEWhile the resaarch effort is gcared ta the precise objective ofcurtrituting to frc reduelion cf hunger anc malnutriton, the iactcrs involved are many anddefinedl focd sucior. Tre Institure's research program relccts waridwico collabcratic n withgcven'mcnts arnd private and oublic irnstitutions interested in increasing fooc produation ar.dimproving tne equity cf its distritbut'sn, Research resu ls are dissemir.atcc tc policymakers.opinion formers, administrators. pclisy analysts, rosearchers, and otiers ccnserned withIFPRI is a rnember cf the Consuitstive Group on International Agriculturai Research andrecoives suppor from Australiza, Belgivm, Canada, Centre ce ccoporation internatianale enrccherohe agrono.miquc psur le develcppemont (CIRAD). China, Denmark, Fcod ar.dAgriculture Orge.nizalion cf the Unitec Nations, Ford Fcundatio.1, France, German Agencyfor Tachnical Ceoparetion (GTZj, Germars Federa! Ministry for Economic Cooperaticn(BMZ). Ird:a, Istar-Armerican Doveloprnent Bank, Internaticnal Developmo.t ResearchCentro (Carniada). Intematicongl Furd for Agricultural Develcpment, Japan, Netr:eriands,Norway, Cverseas Develop:rent Institute, the Pinilipoires, Rockefeler Foundat us, Spai?Sweden, Switzerand, United Kingdom, (Inited Nalions Developient Prograrnrre, UritedNaliona Chilire n's Fur:d. United Statas, anc tho erld Eank iiCONTENTSPrelacevTrree Pillars of Foxd Security1Wormen and Agricullural Prociuction1Women and Economic Access to Food9Women and Nutritian Securty12Conclusions and Recommenidat ons15Notos17 VPREFACEWomen's role in the ecoromy has oftenrity. IFPRI's work in this area started with abccn unclerestimated, and iheir work inseries of stuclias on the cffects of agriculturalagriculture has long been invisible. Wnilecorrmercialization on women's ncomcpolicymakers have targjetecl pooulation,foad consumption, anc household and childheaith, anc nutrition progra.ms to women innutrition, Now, through a multicountrytheir reprocuctive rolos. thcy have neg ecteclresearch program cal led "Strerigthening Fooxdwomen as erodu:ctive agents. This approach.Policy through Intrahousehoid Analysis,however, is changing. In lhe decade sinccIFPRI researchers are examining thethe 1985 World Conference on Woman inprocesses of family decisionmaking to learnNairobi, Kenya, new research has highlightcchow resources are allocated within thethe crucial role of women as farrm managershousenold. This research aims to infcrmand farm workers all cver the world. Growirghe design an implementation at moreevidence shows that income in the hands ofeffective food policy by taking into accountwomen contributes more to householo foodhow wornen's access lo and cantrol oversecurity and child nutrition tnan incomeorocluctive resources, stakes in cevelopmentcontrolleci by men. Such knowledge aooutwamen's key role in focd sacurity is essenopment incertives dliier from those of mentiel to the rlesign and implementaticn ofThis focd policy report syntihesizes cur-effective prograrms to enhance their potenrent research about tn roles that womerfial. The Fourth wWorld Conference onplay in ensuring food security in the devalWomen, in Beijing. China, in Septermeer1995, provices a rnilepos1 for assessingas fcod projucers, as providers of food towomen's progress in the last decade, takirgthe household, and as conlributors tostock of current knowlecge, anc building cnhousehold utrition security. In so doing., itthis knowleage tc guidc future policies.offers concrete proof that reducing genderThe Intarmational Focd Policy Rcsoarchdisparities by incroasing women's physicalInstitute (IFPRl) places a high priority onand human capital promctos agriculturalresearch to improve the understanding cfgrowth; greater income for women, andwornen's roles in agricullure and lood secu- THREEPILLARSOFFOODSECURITYEight htindrec million people in: the clevelog-niticant, if not clominant. roles in supplying alling worlcl currontly faco iood insccurity. andthree ingrodiorts necessaly tc achiave fooclthe challen of meeting their fooc alc nutri-security in developing countries. But womentional nesds is likely to became greater in theptay these roles in the face of enormousyears ahead. Populalion grcwth, urbaniza-social, cullural, an economic constraints.tion, and the lirrited poteritial for increasingThis report turings together tre latest evi-productian through te expsnsion cf cultivateddience on the key roles