Publications

Food security is defined as having physical and economic access to enough, safe, and nutritious food to suit allpeople's dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life at all times. In Sub-Saharan Africa,women produce 70% to 80% of household food, 65% in Asia, and 45% in Latin America and the Caribbean. Despiteunequal access to land, inputs such as improved seeds and fertilizer, and information, they achieve this. Womenfarmers can attain yields that are equivalent to, or perhaps much higher than, those of men if they have equalaccess to resources and human capital. Thus, in order for women to realize their full potential in terms of foodsecurity, national governments and international organizations must implement policies in three key areas. Theymust first strengthen women's physical and human capital. Improving women's access to resources, technology,and information can help them produce more food. Literacy training for women and greater educationalopportunities for females will boost production both now and in the future. Second, policymakers must improvewomen's earning power in order to maximize the benefits of women's earnings for household food security andnutrition. Strategies should strive to boost women's productivity in both paid job and domestic production, so thatwomen can increase their salaries without compromising extra time, the welfare of their children, or their ownhealth and nutrition status. Third, they must safeguard women's health and nutrition in order for them to carryout their productive and reproductive tasks