Fighting gender inequality will have far reaching positive consequences, even helping to feed the world's hungry.
When asked to envisage a 'farmer', most of our minds seem to conjure up images of a round-bellied tweed-wearing man with a Welsh accent, or else a cowboy-booted Texan rancher sporting a disproportionately wide-rimmed hat.
So it may come as a surprise that ladies in fact make up 43% of the world's agricultural labour force. Our stereotypes clearly need some re-tinkering.
Yet women don't have equal access to agricultural resources to make their work more productive, and this is causing the agricultural sector to be inefficient According to Oxfam 66% of the world’s work falls on women’s shoulders, yet they only earn 10% of the world’s income.
The FAO estimates that closing the gender inequality gap could increase women's yields by 20-30%, lifting 100-150 million people out of hunger.
Empowering women is a necessary step towards solving poverty and food insecurity. Lets make it happen!
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