They play a key role in food systems: from their participation in the agricultural workforce, to decisions about how to distribute income and ensure good nutrition for household members. However, there are still important gaps in access to productive resources and asset ownership, which often negatively affects the empowerment of women and, therefore, household food security.
For this reason, programs have been implemented to empower women to improve food security.The IDB's Productive Support Program for Agro-food (APAGRO), implemented in Nicaragua, focuses on empowering women to improve household food security through livestock transfers. Thanks to this program, the beneficiary women received a livestock package and had access to specialized technical assistance in management, marketing, associativity and financial education. Since this women began to integrate more into the community. Even once the program support ended, they continued to organize themselves to receive training. A key factor in the empowerment of women is precisely the associativity since it opens the possibilities for a leadership role within the community. A key factor in the empowerment of women is precisely the associativity since it opens the possibilities for a leadership role within the community.
Women vs Men
Rural women play an essential role in the four pillars related to food security: availability, accessibility, utilization and stability. However, there is a gender gap in terms of access to certain resources such as: land, energy, technology, credits, pesticides and fertilizers. In addition, women have less access to training, information, public social protection services and markets. According to FAO, if women had the same opportunities of access to productive resources than men, could increase their harvests by 20-30%. For this reason, an essential requirement in the fight against hunger and poverty is to promote the empowerment of rural women. Men for reasons of stereotypes based on sex. There is a gender gap in terms of access to certain resources such as land, energy, technology, credit, pesticides and fertilizers. In addition, women have less access to training, information, public social protection services and markets.
Conclusion
Rural women play an essential role in the fight against hunger and poverty.However, this role is far from being recognized. The lack of access to productive resources, markets and sources of financing means that the full potential that women have to guarantee food security cannot be exploited. In addition, there are other factors that affect women more directly, such as climate change, which makes them more vulnerable.Momentum could be found to achieve the empowerment of agricultural women if, when determining the financing of sustainable development projects, greater consideration were given to those that address the gender issue.The sustainable management of water resources is an intimately linked to the fight against hunger and poverty. In this section, as in the previous ones shown in the chapter, the woman also plays a role fundamental.
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