UNFSS: Scaling Impact on Gender Equality through Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives in Asia

Agriculture is underperforming in many developing countries, partly because women do not have equal access to the resources and opportunities needed.  In Asia, women farmers face multiple economic, cultural and social challenges. Women have limited access to information, training, and upskilling and therefore fewer opportunities for downstream (higher-paid) jobs. Women farmers also have less access to quality agricultural inputs and to services provided by the private sector and government.

And the problem is not limited to women upstream in agricultural value chains. Gender equality remains a challenge among public and private sector actors, who struggle with low numbers of women representatives both in leadership positions as well as in field-level roles. In order to have large-scale impact on women at the farm level, leadership in the industry must reflect the entire value chain.

Achieving gender equality in agriculture – from farms to Board rooms – requires coordinated collaboration between policy makers, private sector, and civil society. Tune in to this UNFSS parallel session to unpack the solutions and opportunities to drive gender equality in our industry.