Causes of food crises
Women and food crises: how US food aid policies can better support their struggles
How can food aid support womens' role in food crises?
Authors:
Publisher:
ActionAid International, 2007
Women are often at the centre of food crises and are disproportionately affected by hunger, yet their central role in providing solutions is often overlooked. This discussion paper lays out some of the key issues in modern food crises, discusses the role of food aid in addressing them and explores opportunities for engaging women more actively in food aid policy.
The paper focuses primarily on the United States’ food aid programme, which is based on the shipment of US commodities to developing countries and constitutes half of all global food aid. The paper then looks at two case studies of food shortages in Kenya and Malawi, which examine donor responses and women’s participation. Based on this analysis, the paper concludes that:
- as the driving force behind African agriculture, rural women must play a vital role in finding solutions to Africa’s food crises
- traditional forms of food aid have largely failed to recognize and enhance the productive capacity of women, and this in turn means that food aid has been ineffective in contributing to lasting solutions to hunger
- short-term emergency food must be balanced with longer-term assistance and more comprehensive programs for agricultural development that are designed to support women’s crucial contributions to agricultural production and their commitment to feed their families.
The paper then makes a series of recommendations for the US and other rich country governments, and for African governments. These include:
- the US and other rich countries should stop imposing trade rules and economic policy conditions that make it difficult for African governments to support smallholder farmers, and push them towards reliance on export-driven agriculture
- African governments should promote, uphold and enforce women’s rights to land, credit, water, seeds and other productive resources, and should establish structures to ensure that women’s voices are heard in food and agriculture policies and donor assistance programmes.
