COVID-19 is exposing and exacerbating existing gender inequities in the food system.
According to the latest edition of the State of Food Security and Nutrition from the World Food Programme, an additional 83-132 million people may face undernourishment in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.
A recent report from CARE finds that the pandemic is disproportionately impacting women and girls. Around the world, many are eating smaller portions, facing limitations on their ability to farm, and have lost access to programs that allowed them to buy seeds and crops.
“Women tend to bear the brunt of hunger,” Dr. Maureen Miruka, Director for Gender, Youth & Livelihoods of CARE USA tells Food Tank.
Despite this, when CARE analyzed 73 global reports proposing solutions to the hunger crisis, nearly half failed to address women and girls.
CARE argues this must change and that gender equity is key to addressing hunger.
“[Women] are also key to the solutions,” Miruka tells Food Tank. “They are farmers, they are innovators, they are decision makers, they are leaders, and they need to be involved.”
This week’s episode of the podcast takes a closer look at the findings of the CARE Report and the role of women in agriculture.
Hear from Miruka as she discusses the impacts of COVID-19 on women farmers and women’s food access.
Then listen as farmer and author of Soil Sisters Lisa Kivirist discusses the role that women played in the United States’ agricultural history. “We come from really strong roots of women who have cultivated soil [and] community,” Kivirist tells Food Tank.
And Maureen Muketha, founder of the food security organization Tule Vyema, talks solutions in Kenya. She speaks about the active role women play in developing food security in her community and the importance of building trust among those she works with.
You can listen to “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” on Apple iTunes. While you’re listening, subscribe, rate, and review the show; it would mean the world to us to have your feedback.
Photo courtesy of Marc Hastenteufel, Unsplash
