Gender and Food Systems: Overcoming evidence gaps

Publication: Report
Citation: Giner, C., M. Hobeika and C. Fischetti (2022), "Gender and food systems: Overcoming evidence gaps", OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers, No. 184, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/355ba4ee-en.

Fostering gender inclusion can have positive impacts on the food systems' triple challenge of ensuring food security and nutrition for a growing population, supporting the livelihoods of millions of people working in the food supply chain, and doing so in an environmentally sustainable way. Yet, these positive synergies are often invisible as sex-disaggregated information is not collected. This report calls for the development of better evidence on gender and food systems as a necessary first step in the path towards gender equality. Based on OECD countries' experiences, it provides a roadmap to identify and overcome evidence gaps on gender aspects and policies that address gender inequality in food systems with the aim of advancing women's contribution to food systems.

Language: English
Authorship: May Hobeika

Céline Giner

Chiara Fischetti
Credits: This paper was prepared with the statistical assistance of Daniela Rodriguez and editorial assistance of Michèle Patterson.
The authors acknowledge contributions from country experts: Alice Blichfeldt, Yuri Kanno, Josh Taylor and Kieran Macdonell from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment; Mariana Odette Espinoza Altamirano from the Instituto de Desarrollo Agropecuario (INDAP) in Chile; William Herrera from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Colombia; Zazie von Davier and Susanne Padel from the Thünen Institute in Germany; Hiroshi Zaitsu from the Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) in Japan; Angela McLeod from Rural Woman New Zealand, Mark Hampshire and Richard Lynch from the Ministry of Primary Industries in New Zealand, Chris Gilman and Deb Potter from the Ministry for Women in New Zealand; Hannah Baker from the Department for Environment, Food, Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the United Kingdom, Beth Armstrong and Stephanie Friend from the Food Standard Agency in the United Kingdom; Jessica Todd and Kate Vaiknoras from the United States Department of Agriculture. The authors also thank Delegates to the Working Party on Agricultural Policies and Markets who provided information on their countries’ experiences: Wilhelmine Brown (Australia), Maricela Segura Salas (Canada), Katerina Alejandra Lama Abudoj (Chile), Juan David Saenz Henao (Colombia), Marie Luise Rau (Germany), Tomoko Isobe (Japan), Timothy McGiven (New Zealand), Lucia B. Pitarch Mampel (Spain), Kate Dassesse (Switzerland), Zoe Donkin (United Kingdom), Steve Neff (United States). Finally, the authors benefitted from discussions with and comments from Sally Shortall (University of Newcastle), Corinna Hawkes (City University of London) and Ursula Truebswasser (Wageningen University & Research), Jemimah Njuki (CGIAR/ IFPRI), Marie-Agnès Jouanjean (The World Bank), Chiara Brunelli (FAO), Yonca Gurbuzer (FAO) and Erdgin Mane (FAO), Clea Kaske-Kuck (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) and OECD colleagues: Alessandro Goglio, Willem
Adema, Chris Clarke, Hélèné Dernis, Laurent Moussiegt, Dimitra Xynou, Mariana Mirabile, Aimee Aguilar Jaber, Leopold Ghins, Philipp Heinrings, Guillaume Cohen, Jane Korinek, Claire Delpeuch, Elena Avery, Hubertus Gay, Koen Deconinck and Jesus Anton.
Published by: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), International
Year: 2022
Dimension: 52 pp.
DOI: 10.1787/355ba4ee-en
Table of contents: Click to show full table of contents

1. Introduction
2. The role of women in food systems
2.1. Understanding the extent of women’s participation and barriers to participation across food systems
2.2. Assessment of evidence gaps on women’s participation to food systems
3. Better evidence on the role of gender in food systems is needed for effective policy design
3.1. Highlighting gender in food systems policies
3.2. Addressing gender evidence gaps for better policy design
4. Policies addressing gender inequality and evidence gaps on assessing effectiveness
4.1. Food systems policy tools supporting women entrepreneurs
4.2. Economy-wide policy tools supporting women workers and entrepreneurs
4.3. Evidence gaps on addressing policy effectiveness
5. How to address gender aspects in food systems: A roadmap
6. Main lessons
6.1. Developing better evidence on gender and food systems is a necessary first step in reaching gender equality
6.2. Developing better evidence on gender and food systems allows to better target policies supporting women in food systems
6.3. Developing better evidence on gender and food systems is necessary to measure policy effectiveness
6.4. Developing better evidence on gender and food systems requires coordinated action by countries
References
Annex A. Glossary
Annex B. Evidence gaps on the participation of women in food systems
Annex C. Methodology
Keywords: Food

Gender equality, Women workers, Gender impact analysis, Food systems, Women entrepreneurs, Women consumers, Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics, Environmental and Ecological Economics, Agriculture, Agricultural Policy, Food Policy, Labor and Demographic Economics, Economics of Gender, Non-labor Discrimination, Industrial Organization, Manufacturing, Food, Beverages, Cosmetics, Tobacco, Wine and Spirits, Law and Economics, Human Rights Law, Gender Law

OECD countries, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, United Kingdom, United States

Mathematical and Quantitative Methods / Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs / Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs:

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