Gender-based patterns and constraints in rural development

As noted in Chapter 1, women make up around half of the agricultural labour force of the least developed countries (LDCs), a proportion that has increased progressively over time in all three geographical subgroups. Rural women play a pivotal role in ensuring household food security and nutrition, particularly through cultivation of home gardens, and can increase production and food security through improved agroecological practices and crop diversification. They can also be important agents of rural economic diversification, and key players in vibrant micro-entrepreneurial activities such as artisanal agroprocessing, which have significant potential to be developed into viable enterprises. Their economic and social empowerment also yields critical intergenerational benefits, helping to make the next generation better fed, healthier and better educated, and thus better equipped to contribute to the economy and society (FAO, 2011; World Bank and ONE, 2014).

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development