Labour, Family and Agriculture: Gender and Development Issues, a North-South Perspective

The 34% projected increase in the world’s population over the next 40 years will generate an additional demand for food, energy and fibres. To feed the additional 2.3 billion people who will be living on earth in 2050, food production will have to increase by 60% globally and by 77% in developing countries (FAO, 2011). Diets are already changing (more meat, sugar and fat to meet the demands of more urban populations) whereas the constraints on environmental resources are increasing in line with global changes. Against this backdrop, the latest FAO report, focusing on the issues of gender in agriculture, condemns the fact that inequalities still remain between men and women and shows that reducing them would bring about significant societal, economic and environmental benefits. The message is clear: “women have a key role to play in increasing both agricultural productivity and production” (FAO, 2011). And yet, they are faced with gendered constraints when it comes to accessing productive resources such as land, water and inputs but also technical knowledge or financial services. This differential access explains how land farmed by women, depending on the crops, is 20–30% less productive than land farmed by men (see also Villareal, 2014). FAO has observed that more productive farming by women can have multiplier effects in long-term social benefits by improving women’s living conditions (more free time, less arduous work) while at the same time enhancing their status and power within families and beyond, and by improving their economic and social position within the family and society.