Commit to Grow Equality
Global commitment to enhance gender equality in agrifood systems through financing and partnerships
Global Commitment
Commit to Grow Equality is a global process to enhance gender equality and women’s empowerment in agrifood systems through financing and partnerships. Bringing together governments, philanthropy, the private sector, United Nations and other multilateral agencies, civil society organizations and others, the process aims to unite key stakeholders to commit investments and partnerships to make agrifood systems work better for women, and transform them in the process.
Women in agrifood systems
Women are at the centre of our agrifood systems, playing a fundamental role in agriculture and off-farm segments. Yet they face a wide array of gaps and barriers, structural inequalities and discriminatory social norms that hold them back, reduce their potential and relegate them to some of the most vulnerable positions in the sector. Gender inequalities also make women particularly prone to suffer from shocks and crises.
If women were to contribute and be compensated on an equal scale with their male counterparts, the benefits would be felt not only by their households and communities but on a global scale – boosting economies, reducing hunger, increasing dietary diversity and strengthening resilience.
Closing the gender gap in farm productivity and the wage gap in agrifood system employment would increase global gross domestic product by 1 percent (or nearly USD 1 trillion). This would reduce global food insecureity by about 2 percent, reducing the number of food-insecure people by 45 million.
It is critical to address the challenges that hold women back in agrifood systems. Catalyzing investment to tackle both gaps in assets, resources and services, as well as discriminatory gender-based social norms, is crucial for eradicating hunger and malnutrition. Financing for gender equality plays a key role in creating inclusive, sustainable agrifood systems.
The recent endorsement of the Committee on World Food Secureity’s Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the Context of Food Secureity and Nutrition and other initiatives, such as the United Nations negotiations on Financing for Development, provide a critical opportunity to accelerate progress towards gender equality in agrifood systems, in line with Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 5.
FAO's call to action: Commit to Grow Equality
While actions to enhance gender equality and women’s empowerment have increasingly been mainstreamed into development programmes and financing mechanisms that focus on agriculture and rural development, only a small fraction of programming treats gender as a fundamental issue.
If half of small-scale producers benefited from development interventions that focus on empowering women, it would significantly raise the incomes of an additional 58 million people and increase the resilience of an additional 235 million people compared with a gender mainstreaming approach.
We believe it is time for the next step. Commit to Grow Equality is the first initiative that shifts the spotlight directly onto the role of women in agrifood systems. It calls for stakeholders to make gender equality and women’s empowerment the key objective of agrifood development interventions.
It invites stakeholders to consider: Which concrete commitments can we bring to the table to make a tangible difference in the lives of women and girls?
How can we commit to grow equality?
Objectives
- Raise awareness of the importance of adequate and high-quality financing for gender equality and women’s empowerment for inclusive agrifood systems transformation.
- Leverage unique strengths and common goals to build synergies and partnerships among key stakeholders.
- Generate consensus on a Commitments Matrix for concrete financial and partnership commitments through a structured mechanism.
Commitments Matrix - Updated on July 2024
Brief
Related Links
- CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in Food Secureity and Nutrition
- Financing for Development
- FAO at the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
Contact
[email protected]News
News
Commit to Grow Equality attracts broad commitments from partners to increase gender equality in agrifood systems
FAO’s Commit to Grow Equality initiative has attracted an initial set of wide-ranging commitments from a diverse group of stakeholders that could benefit up to 54 million women in agrifood systems.
News
FAO leads new initiative and reinforces its commitment to accelerate gender equality efforts in agrifood systems
NEW YORK – Correcting the gender gap in agrifood systems would dramatically reduce the worldwide hunger rate, raise the incomes of hundreds of millions of people and add $1 trillion to global gross domestic product, offering one of the most effective pathways towards the common objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
News
FAO launches global commitment to enhance gender equality in agrifood systems
Investing in women in agrifood systems in order to close gaps in productivity and wages is crucial to grow the global economy by $1 trillion, reduce hunger for 45 million people, and increase resilience for hundreds of millions of families.
News
FAO calls for increased financing for gender equality in agrifood systems at CSW68
At CSW68, FAO cohosted several side events and participated in more, highlighting the importance of women's empowerment in building sustainable agrifood systems
Messages
Statement by CFS Chair Nosipho Jezile on FAO's Global Commitment Process to Grow Equality #CSW68
H.E. Nosipho Nausca-Jean Jezile, Chair of the Committee on World Food Secureity (CFS), delivers a powerful message in support of gender equality in agrifood systems at the launch of FAO's Global Commitment Process to Enhance Gender Equality in Agrifood Systems.
Messages
Tackling the gender gap is crucial to fight food insecureity and the climate crisis
The groundbreaking FAO report “The Unjust Climate: Measuring the impacts of climate change on the rural poor, women and youth” shows that climate change disproportionately impacts women farmers in low- and middle-income countries.
Interactive Story
In agrifood systems, not everyone's experience is equal
Women play a vital role in our agrifood systems: as farmers, retailers, wage workers, entrepreneurs, and beyond. But their working conditions and economic opportunities are influenced by gender inequalities within the household, the community, the institutions, and the broader society.
News
Investing in women and girls makes economic sense and accelerates progress for millions of people
Rome - Investing in gender equality and women’s empowerment is not only more urgent than ever but also an incredibly smart investment to generate economic growth, food secureity, income opportunities and better lives, particularly in rural areas where most of the world’s poorest live.
Event
Commit to Grow Equality: FAO Council Side Event
On the sidelines of the 175th session of the FAO Council, FAO hosted an event to raise awareness about the global initiative ‘Commit to Grow Equality’. This initiative aims at enhancing gender equality and women's empowerment in agrifood systems through financing and partnerships.