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= Gender roles in agriculture = From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gender roles in agriculture are a frequent subject of study by sociologists and farm economists. Historians also study them, as they are important in understanding the social structure of agrarian, and even industrial, societies. Agriculture provides many job opportunities and livelihoods around the world. It can also reflect gender inequality and uneven distribution of resources and privileges among gender.

''' In particular, pastoralist, ethnic minority, indigenous and rural women continue to face numerous obstacles when trying to access and control natural resources, technological devices and agricultural services; also, they are not involved in processes of decision-making. Most of the time, such obstacles have their roots in practices of discrimination, which highly influence women’s independence  . '''

According to the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, women usually have a harder time obtaining land, tools and knowledge than men, especially in developing countries. Several organizations such as Food and Agriculture Organization and independent research have indicated that increasing gender corporation can bring more profits and food security for the community.

Near East and North Africa (NENA)
' The 2020 edition of FAO's Near East and North Africa − Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition'', finds that nearly 55 million people in the Arab States – about 13.2 percent of the total population – are food insecure and the situation is particularly worrying in countries affected by conflicts and protracted crises. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic these numbers are expected to grow. '''

''' Gender inequalities in agriculture remain widespread in the region. Rural women and girls continue to face severe discriminations in access to, and ownership of assets, resources and agricultural support services, included those related to community nutrition services. Compared to men, women tend to own lower value assets and have less access to capital, labour, agriculture inputs and tools. In addition, most women’s work in farms in the region is unpaid, rendering it essentially invisible. Women also tend to have less entitlements and access to natural resources, such as land and water. For example, despite the significant role they play in managing it, women frequently face obstacles in accessing irrigation water for the cultivation of crops and for raising livestock. This is mainly due to insecurity of land tenure and to their marginal involvement in water governance institutions and user associations, where they are often under-represented and excluded from decision-making processes. Women also have less access to finance due to absence of collaterals for loans. Moreover, in many instances, women do not control the farm, livestock income due to cultural and or lack of access to banking services. '''

''' The same applies to other rural organizations and institutions within the rural and agricultural sectors, and this under-representation largely explains why women’s interests are often overlooked and agricultural support services rarely attuned to respond to their needs. This, in turn explains, why women tend to have less access to information, technology and trainings, and a lower uptake of nutrition-sensitive agricultural practices. '''

''' Increasing women’s productivity and reducing women’s work burden is not sufficient to improve food security and nutrition. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), additional actions are required to ensure that women have decision-making power and ownership over productive assets and the use of income from agriculture and off-farm employment. Promoting women’s participation in decision-making processes at all levels is therefore a particularly important aspect of empowerment as it leads to wider social and economic changes. In order to do so and to achieve sustainable and transformative changes, FAO suggests addressing the prevailing and discriminatory gender norms that are hindering women and girls to reach their full potential, and thus impacting food security and nutritional outcomes for women, girls, boys and men. '''