Transforming gender and food security in the Global South
This book (PDF) published by Routledge and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) provides empirical evidence and conceptual explorations of the gendered dimensions of food security. It investigates how food security and gender inequity are conceptualized within interventions, it assesses the impacts and outcomes of gender-responsive programs on food security and gender equity, and addresses diverse approaches to gender research and practice that range from descriptive and analytical to strategic and transformative. The chapters draw on diverse theoretical perspectives. One chapter focuses on women’s participation in food marketing as traders of forest foods in Cameroon instead of the more traditional focus on agricultural production and farming. Another chapter focuses on rural indigenous fishing communities in Bolivia and uses a gender transformative approach to identify strategic entry points to leverage positive change. But the book also delves into the gendered adoption of technology in Eastern Kenya and links between nutrition and agriculture in Malawi. Other case-studies are from Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. The report adds important conceptual and empirical material to a growing literature on the challenges of gender equity in food production. An unique feature of this book is the integration of both analytic and transformative approaches to understanding gender and food security. The transformative chapters also document efforts to build durable and equitable relationships between men and women, addressing underlying social, cultural, and economic causes of gender inequality. Taken together, these combined approaches enable women and men to reflect on gendered divisions of labor and resources related to food, and to reshape these divisions in ways which benefit families and communities.