By Jay Vella, FDI’s Research Analyst, Global Food and Water Crises Research Programme
The global population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. To accommodate this expansion, the world will need to attain a 70 per cent increase in food production over the same period. This required growth must be achieved in the face of a variety of interconnected challenges: A changing climate carries a greater potential for calamitous weather events to destroy harvests; natural and human-induced land degradation will reduce the available land for cropping; and rapid urbanisation, particularly among developing countries, will lead to higher levels of consumption, broadly resembling ‘Western’, protein-based diets. The Asia-Pacific region, in particular, is experiencing each of these elements as it undergoes its highly documented political, social and economic transition. It is therefore acutely vulnerable to future food insecurity.
In order for a large and sustained increase in the production of food to be reached, there must be innovation in agriculture, with the aim of increasing crop yields. The most effective method of improving agricultural productivity is to empower those collective individuals who contribute the greatest to it: women. In the developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region, women play a prominent role in the production of food, cultivating between 60 and 80 per cent of all crops. It is also women who ensure food security at the household level by preparing family meals. Often, women possess extensive knowledge of agricultural practice and natural resource management in their local areas, with their skills and involvement in farming supporting past regional development. Further, studies have shown a direct correlation between the status of women within the household and rates of childhood malnutrition.
Despite their critical importance to food security, however, women are often marginalised in Asian society. Pervasive gender inequality remains a barrier to progress, particularly in rural areas where food security is most precarious. In spite of Asia’s socio-economic and political restructuring in recent decades, women continue to be excluded from access to and control of land. Where they do have land access for cultivation, it is generally limited and does not produce enough to satisfy a household’s required level of nutrition. Moreover, women are often left out of decision-making, with regard to a family’s control of resources. The ability of a woman to manage the provision of food and income is shaped by gender-determined power relations; through customary law, restrictions are placed on her type of employment, income level, prospective land tenure and ownership of agricultural assets, all of which significantly and negatively impact upon food security.
Gender discrimination has contributed to widespread poverty, with rural women being assessed most vulnerable. At present, 45 per cent of Asian women do not earn an income. This is in part due to a large gap in education levels between the sexes. Addressing both the education imbalance and economic inactivity of women would greatly reduce instances of food poverty. Enabling women’s access to credit, too, would assist their role in agriculture; the ability to purchase technologically advanced agricultural inputs, hitherto denied to women, will allow greater control over crop cultivation and decision-making. The prospect of future food insecurity in the Asia-Pacific will have consequences for humanitarian, socio-economic, political and security related issues. It will hinder development and may lead to regional instability. The goal of governments and agriculturalists must be to increase crop yields to satisfy an ever-increasing demand with limited natural resources. While it is axiomatic that empowering half the human race will invariably assist in reaching this goal, there is much to be done before it can be realised. Removing inequality in rural Asia may be seen as the first step towards greater regional food security.
Jay Vella
Research Analyst
Global Food and Water Crises Research Programme
Future Directions International (FDI) Pty Ltd
