Why is gender equality and rural women's empowerment central to the work of FAO?

FAO recognizes that rural women and men, together, hold the keys to end hunger, malnutrition and poverty. Rural women and girls, in particular, are recognized as agents of change and resilience builders. Across low-income countries, women make up 48 percent of agricultural employment. As agricultural producers, farm managers, processors, traders, wage workers, entrepreneurs and community leaders, they fulfil important roles across agrifood value chains, and in the management of biodiversity and natural resources, such as land and water. As illustrated in the many examples featured on this site, rural women are resilient, resourceful, industrious and innovative.

Yet the gender gap in food and agriculture is extensive. As consumers, women are more food-insecure than men in every region of the world.

And as producers, rural women face greater constraints than their male counterparts in accessing essential productive resources and services, technologies, markets, education, information and financial assets.
The gender gap in food insecurity has grown, in 2021, 31.9 percent of women in the world were moderately or severely food insecure compared to 27.6 percent of men.

Women continue to be under-represented in local institutions and governance mechanisms, and tend to have less decision-making power. In addition to these constraints, prevailing gender norms and discrimination often mean that women face an excessive work burden, and much of their labour remains unpaid and unrecognized.

While a focus on these constraints is crucial, it can sometimes reinforce common perceptions of rural women and girls as vulnerable victims of their circumstances, and obscure the nature and magnitude of their potential. Evidence shows that if women farmers have the same level of access as men to resources and services, they would achieve the same yield levels.