Research, evidence and data about gender inequality in agrifood systems (AFS) have increased markedly over the past decade. However, little of this evidence shows an improvement in the conditions under which women participate in farming and off-farm activities in the sector. In fact, analysis of women's working conditions and access to productive assets and resources, as well as the influence of underlying social norms, policies and institutions, suggests that the gaps between men and women in agrifood systems are as large as a decade before.
The conditions under which women pursue livelihoods in agrifood systems are not equal: their jobs are often part-time, precarious or vulnerable, they are segregated to less remunerative parts of the value chain, and their work is constrained by the larger number of hours, vis-à-vis men, they spend on unpaid domestic and care work. Additionally, they often face gender-based violence, discriminatory social norms and unfavorable policy frameworks. Under these conditions, it can be difficult for women to reap potential returns from the process of agrifood system transformation.
For all of these reasons, the papers in this special issue apply a gendered agrifood system framework, which considers structural gender inequalities as well as gendered shocks and vulnerabilities which impact AFS employment outcomes, food security and empowerment. The framework also considers how the formal, informal, individual and systemic domains of gender inequality impact dietary, economic and environmental outcomes.
HIGHLIGHTED PAPERS
Levelling the farm fields: A cross-country study of the determinants of gender-based yield gaps
Gender gap in agricultural labour productivity: A comparison across African countries
From law to practice: A cross-country assessment of gender inequalities in rights to land
The agrifood-system wage gap and structural transformation: cross-country evidence
Climate change and sex-specific labor intensity: An empirical analysis in Africa