26 June 2012 -- Increasing the participation of women in agriculture will help address the global issue on hunger, according to UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Professor Olivier de Schutter, who discussed strengthening gender equality to combat hunger at the Asian Development Bank's headquarters, 22 June 2012.

"Part of our efforts should focus on women. Because without a gender focus, we will fail," he said.

"A gender gap is a yield gap," he further explained. Bridging the gap, according to De Schutter, would increase global agricultural output by enough to feed 100 to 150 million hungry people. Women face significant inequities in access to land, technology, extension services and education.  Measures proposed include providing women with more access to productive resources, land and credit, shifting towards more capitalized agriculture, and critically examining power relationships within households in rural communities.

De Schutter also teaches at the University of Louvain, and at the College of Europe, both in Belgium.

ADB's Eminent Speaker's Forum: Gender Equality and Food Security was jointly hosted by the Communities of Practice (CoPs) on Gender Equity, and Agriculture and Rural Development and Food Security.

See presentation.