Nouakchott - New data shows that 76 percent of working women in sub-Saharan Africa are employed in agrifood systems - the largest share worldwide. In off-farm segments, this share is even higher, and in rural areas women are four times more likely than men to engage in off-farm work. In addition, women's contribution to agrifood systems extends well beyond formal employment. Their unpaid care work at community and household levels, from fetching water to caring for children and elders, is indispensable for the protection of local food systems and food and nutrition security.
The Status of Women in Agrifood Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa report, launched today at the first World Food Forum - Africa, held on the margins of the 34th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Africa, presents new findings and data on women's labour, food security, nutrition, and wellbeing in agrifood systems across the region. The report also provides policy and investment recommendations to close gender gaps and level the playing field in food production, processing, distribution, and consumption.
Developed by FAO, the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich (NRI) and African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), the report comes during the International Year of the Woman Farmer, an opportunity to galvanize global support for gender equality and women's empowerment in agrifood systems.
"This International Year is more than a celebration. It is an invitation to do more, better, and more consistently for women who are sustaining agrifood systems and feeding the world - from their households to communities and entire continents. And this report provides the evidence and the roadmap of what needs to be done and how," said Beth Bechdol, FAO Deputy Director-General at the launch.
Report highlights challenges faced by women in Africa's agrifood sector
The report highlights significant challenges faced by women across the agrifood sector including limited access to and control over natural resources and greater probability than men of experiencing food insecurity. Women in the region also have limited access to social protection coverage, with only 13 percent of women receiving cash benefits and less than 7 percent being able to access pensions.
Nevertheless, women continue to navigate and overcome these obstacles through resilience, adaptability and innovation. This is done by diversifying their livelihoods, establishing community savings and credit associations, and implementing agroecological practices, among others.
"Women's capacity to cope is often a response to structural failures rather than a choice, and it must not serve as a substitute for meaningful policy reform," said Clara Park, FAO Senior Gender Officer and one of the authors of the report. "Our focus must shift from celebrating individual endurance to implementing the collective solutions that drive systemic change."
Report calls for gender-just agrifood systems in sub-Saharan Africa
Based on the evidence, the report presents policy, programme and investment recommendations for more gender-just agrifood systems in sub-Saharan Africa. The proposed roadmap focuses on tackling the root causes of gender inequalities for lasting change. Specifically, it calls for the implementation of gender-transformative approaches to challenge discriminatory social norms, the scaling up of social protection for formal and informal workers, and the establishment of stronger legal frameworks to prevent and address gender-based violence across agrifood systems.
The report also highlights that closing the productivity and wage gaps in Africa could increase the regional GDP by 2.58 percent - USD 53 billion - and reduce food insecurity by 3.79 percent.
"Investing in women farmers is not a side conversation. It is central to ending hunger, to building climate resilience, and to creating a more just and inclusive Africa. If this International Year of the Woman Farmer is to mean anything, it must be the moment we move beyond words into action, into impact, and into transformation," said chef and FAO Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Africa Fatmata Binta at the closure of the event.
