ADB recognizes role of women farmers in Asia

Countries in Asia are urged to provide support for women farmers to ease the food security crisis in the region, according to Asian Development Bank (ADB).

“With a food crisis and climate change affecting millions of people in Asia and the Pacific, equipping female farmers with technology, support, and resources, is a win for women and food security overall,” ADB senior social development specialist Zonibel Woods said in the multilateral lender’s blog.

While women are playing an important role in food systems as producers, processors, traders, consumers, scientists, and policymakers, Woods said their role is not always being recognized with women not receiving the same economic benefits like wages or employment as men.

Woods said female farmers also lack access to agricultural extension services targeted for their needs and that enable them to gain additional knowledge, skills and information.

While extreme weather and climate events, which both impact food security, are bound to affect everyone in the region, she said some impacts affect women more acutely.

She added that heat stress, for example, has been found to impact women more severely.

Unlike men, Woods said some studies showed that women might have no choice but to keep working during heat events, given their lack of other coping strategies.

According to Woods, it is important to ensure actions taken to adapt to climate change do not exacerbate existing genderbased and other social inequalities.

“If rural women were given equal access to the same resources as men, we could significantly reduce hunger. Food insecurity is linked to women’s unequal access to and control over resources compared to men,” she said.

Citing the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Woods said the number of hungry people worldwide could be reduced by up to 150 million people if rural women were given equal access to resources as men.

These include access to credit improve women’s uptake of climate-smart agriculture practices as well as labor saving technologies, and basic farm tools.

Looking ahead, Woods said women should be engaged in designing, implementing, and monitoring climate-smart agriculture.

Such, she added, would lead to extension and advisory systems improvements to better respond to the needs of female farmers.