Bold actions for gender equality and women’s empowerment in food systems

BY JEMIMAH NJUKI

Somewhere in rural South Asia, a very enterprising woman toils for about 18 hours a day to feed and care for her family. However, despite working to the point of endangering her own health, she only gets a fraction of her labor. The bulk of her returns go to the landowner.

I met Kapilaben during the South Asia Dialogue on Women, Work and Food Systems in April this year. In a very passionate plea, she talked about the lives of women smallholder producers in India, their struggle to farm on land that they do not have rights to, the lack of access to financial services that work for them, and the exploitation in markets.

Photo credit: Ryan Brown/UN Women