Antananarivo — As
infections with Covid-19 appear to be intensifying in sub-Saharan Africa
(SSA), fears of severe food shortages have prompted experts to warn
that the region may be "on the brink of
a hunger pandemic." Efforts are
intensifying to rally a major global response.
But averting what
some experts believe could be a food crisis of immense proportions
requires paying close attention to an often overlooked feature of food
security in the region: African women play a large and growing role in
all aspects of the region's food systems--whether it's growing crops and
raising livestock, selling and purchasing food in local markets, or
dealing with the nutritional needs of their households.
African women often
assume this burden while laboring with key disadvantages due to
long-standing gender roles that can limit their access to economic
resources--both within their households and communities. To be
effective, any intervention to avert a food crisis caused by the
pandemic will need to navigate a fraught terrain of gender
inequality--and not just in the interest of social justice. Women are
critical to feeding all Africans. The more they suffer, the more the
continent will suffer.
Most of the food
consumed in sub-Saharan Africa is produced on small-scale family farms
where, in many countries, 40 to 60 percent of farmers are women. Yet
these women often lack equal access to quality seeds, fertilizers, good
land, credit, technical advice and new technologies
Most of the food
consumed in SSA is produced on small-scale family farms where, in many
countries, 40 to 60 percent of farmers are women. Yet these women often
lack equal access to quality seeds, fertilizers, good land, credit,
technical advice and new technologies.
I work with a
non-profit international research consortium that is mobilizing a global
network of experts who understand how gender equality can be a powerful
force in revitalizing rural economies-increasing their food security
and making them more resilient to a number of challenges.
My colleagues and I
realize that in the face of this unprecedented crisis, the work of the
gender researchers that make up our new CGIAR GENDER Platform is more
urgent than ever. The lessons that have emerged from past research
conducted by GENDER's partners can be illuminating as we seek ways to
stop the fight against COVID-19 from producing an outbreak of hunger and
malnutrition.
One important
lesson is the need to develop solutions that account for the limited
mobility many women face. Long before COVID-19, it was challenging for
African women farmers to carve out time to get their goods to market,
where the money they earn is often used to purchase additional food for
their families.
In Western Kenya,
for example, one reason women dairy farmers have not earned and produced
as much as men is because their household work makes it very difficult
to travel to central cooling facilities to sell their milk. In response,
the New Kenya Co-operative Creameries (NKCC) promoted the use of small
coolers in local neighborhoods where women can easily deliver milk for
pick-up. Creating this type of last-mile linkage--for a number of
commodities-- can help build bridges between women producers and
consumers in the midst of restrictions imposed to stop the spread of
COVID-19.
Secondly, tailoring
how we deliver information will be critical for women farmers. For
example, as primary food vendors, women will need to be informed about
when local markets will be open for business. But information access has
been a perennial challenge.
A study in Ghana,
for example, found that, despite enthusiasm around Africa's widespread
adoption of mobile phones, using text messaging and smartphone apps to
deliver climate forecasts to farmers might miss a lot of women farmers.
Compared to men, women are less likely to own a cell phone or have the
finances to purchase air time. Literacy may also be lower for women.
Moreover, the social network many women use to overcome these barriers
could be closed-off by the COVID-19 clampdowns.
The solution to
dealing with the gender inequality around climate forecast services
holds true for delivering information to farmers during this pandemic:
conveying information via multiple channels, such as radio or videos,
was found to be effective in reducing this technology-related gender
gap.
Finally, giving women an equal voice in making decisions about the food produced on their farms can lead to better nutrition.
In Malawi, outreach
to women proved decisive in community adoption of new varieties of
orange-fleshed sweet potatoes that are naturally high in vitamin A.
Women farmers were swayed by the nutritional benefits they offered for
their children--even though men traditionally have been in charge of
sweet potato crops.
In Tanzania and
Ghana, women who had greater access to irrigation were more likely to
use it to grow nutritious crops for household consumption. In the face
of COVID-19 and its potentially devastating effects on hunger and
malnutrition, any kind of aid focused on improving household nutrition
must be directed towards women.
Today, there is a
lot of discussion in the development community that confronting the
food-related problems caused by this pandemic presents an opportunity
for "building back better." That means designing interventions that can
also help address problems that pre-dated the current crisis and will be
here long after it's over.
Subjecting
emergency food interventions now being planned for SSA to something of a
gender stress-test is one way we can address the immediate challenge
before us while helping communities emerge from the crisis on even
firmer footing.
Gaudiose
Mujawamariya is an economist and gender researcher, and she contributes
to the CGIAR GENDER Platform as a representative of Africa Rice Center
(AfricaRice) in Madagascar.
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