Women and Food Security in subSaharan Africa

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Women and Food Security in sub-Saharan Africa
Emilia Biavaschi Public Health and Social
Justice December 4, 2008
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Hunger in Africa

• An increase of 43 million undernourished
  individuals between 1990-1992 and 2003-2005,
  bringing total to 169 million people

• In 2007, 24 million more became
  undernourished
• In 2007 and 2008 prices rose from 30-150 for
  staple foods

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Food Security of Women

• Women feed themselves last
• Disproportionately affected by higher food prices

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Women and Agriculture

• Produce at least 70 of the food
• Own only 1 of the land
• Receive 7 of the extension services and 10 of
  the credit that is available to small-scale
  farmers

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Inequalities in Agriculture

• Structural Adjustment Policies
• Conditions placed on loans from WB and IMF
• Reduction in state spending ? privatization,
  deregulation, reduction in services
• Trade liberalization
• Staple crops ? cash crops

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Structural Agreement PoliciesConsequences

• Net food exporters ? net food importers
• 45 of rice and 85 of wheat consumed in
  sub-Saharan Africa is now imported
• Devaluing of small-scale, subsistence agriculture
• Training services, subsidies, and available
  credit all decrease for women who make up the
  majority of this sector
• Policies and programs implemented with no input
  by those being affected

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Future Solutions

• Microfinance programs
• Addressing gender inequalities in policy
• Policies and programs encouraging small-scale
  food crops over large-scale cash crops
• Admit policy failures and move on
• Locally designed and implemented
• UN Report on Organic Agriculture

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Resources
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO). (2008, 17 September). Hunger on
the rise Soaring prices add 75 million people
to global hunger rolls (Briefing Paper).
Retrieved October 20, 2008, from
http//www.fao.org/newsroom Food and Water
Watch. (2008). Whats behind the global food
crisis? How trade policy undermined Africas food
self-sufficiency. Retrieved November 1, 2008,
from http//www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/pubs/re
ports FoodFirst Institute for Food and
Development Policy. (2008, October). The world
food crisis (Policy Brief No. 16). Retrieved
November 1, 2008, from http//www.foodfirst.org/en
/publications/policybriefs Oxfam International.
(2008, October). Double-edged prices Lessons
from the food price price crisis 10 actions
developing countries should take (Briefing
Paper). Retrieved November 10, 2008, from
http//www.oxfam.org Structural Adjustment
Participatory Review International Network
(SAPRIN). (2002, April). The policy roots of
economic crisis and poverty A multi-country
participatory assessment of structural
adjustment. Washington DC. United Nations.
(2008). Organic agriculture and food security in
Africa. UNEP UNCTAD Capacity Building Task Force
on Trade, Environment and Development. New York
and Geneva. United Nations. (n.d.).
Microfinance in Africa Combining the best
practices of traditional and modern microfinance
approaches towards poverty eradication. Economic
and Social Affairs. Washington DC. United
Nations. (n.d.). Role of microcredit in the
eradication of poverty -report of the
Secretary-General
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