© Toby Madden pour Action contre la Faim
Headline
Gender and hunger
Why are women more affected by malnutrition?
WOMEN AND CHILDREN ARE THE GROUPS MOST VULNERABLE TO MALNUTRITION. ACCORDING TO THE UNITED NATIONS, 60% OF THE MALNOURISHED PEOPLE IN THE WORLD ARE WOMEN.
In its 2019 report on food insecurity and nutrition across the world, the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) indicates that the risk of food security is around 10% higher for women than for men.
Why are women more affected by malnutrition than men? There are many reasons behind world hunger, including conflicts, climate change, epidemics, poverty and inequalities. Among these inequalities, gender injustice is both a cause and a consequence of hunger, thus creating a vicious circle in which women bear the brunt of the impact. Breaking this circle would help to reduce world hunger.
In the agricultural sector, FAO estimates in its report ‘Women in Agriculture: Closing the Gender Gap for Development’ that if women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20–30%. This would reduce the number of people suffering from hunger in the world by around 12–17%.
What is gender equity? Definition
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), gender equity means ‘fairness of treatment for women and men, according to their respective needs. This may include equal treatment, or treatment that is different, but which is considered equivalent in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and opportunities.’
In other words, access to rights or opportunities must not be affected by an individual’s gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.
© Toby Madden pour Action contre la Faim
© Toby Madden pour Action contre la Faim
Why are women more affected by world hunger?
The main reasons for this food inequality are gender injustice and the traditional roles imposed on men and women. In many patriarchal societies, men are expected to provide for the family in terms of income, while women take care of most of the unpaid labour, which may include household tasks (collecting water or wood, cooking, etc.), direct care (of children, older people or people with a disability, for example) or free labour within the informal economy.
Men, meanwhile, hold the capital and spend part of it on their household. Women therefore have less control over resources, less access to education and less political representation.
Women fighting hunger around the world
Food deprivation due to gender-related social norms
In many regions across the world, women are subject to social norms linked to their gender, which can lead to food deprivation.
As women are often responsible for feeding their family, they tend to make sure others have eaten before taking care of themselves. As strength is viewed as a masculine quality, men and boys are prioritised when it comes to access to food in the home, while women and girls have to make do with whatever is left. This translates as unequal access to nutritious food and therefore greater vulnerability to malnutrition among women. Women and girls are the last to eat and often have less to eat, so their daily nutritional needs are left unmet.
Furthermore, in some cultures, strict social rules are imposed on women on their period. For instance, they may not be allowed to eat with men and must make do with leftovers. As they are sometimes deemed impure, they are not allowed to cook and, in some cases, must isolate for a few days until they no longer have their period.
Lack of food due to conflict and domestic violence
There are many causes of hunger: conflict, inequality, climate change, epidemics… Populations’ security is increasingly under threat. This situation of constant threat and long-term stress creates tensions relating to resource management in households. These tensions can make domestic violence against women more likely.
In addition, food insecurity combined with gender inequalities in certain regions can lead women (and even men) to provide sexual favours in exchange for food.
© Sébastien Duijndam pour Action contre la Faim
© Sébastien Duijndam pour Action contre la Faim
Inability to eat or feed one’s family due to trauma from physical or sexual violence
Trauma linked to physical or sexual violence can have consequences on women’s nutrition and health. A loss of appetite and lack of energy to feed oneself or one’s family are common symptoms of depression.
Trauma can also have an effect on women’s ability to breastfeed. After a violent, traumatic incident, many mothers are unable to produce milk and can no longer fulfil their children’s needs. Their children then become weaker and are more likely to suffer from hunger and malnutrition.
In addition, sexual violence may be used as a weapon against civilian populations during a conflict. Once again, this violence targets women in particular.
Inability to purchase land due to rigid social structures
In certain regions in the world, women do not have the same access to property as men do, or this right is not respected. In these places, land, businesses and property cannot be acquired and financial services cannot be accessed without a man being involved.
This dependence on men hinders women’s empowerment and puts single women in a highly precarious situation.
Domestic burden
In many countries, women carry out most of the work in the home and often have to take care of their family. This involves collecting and preparing food, and sometimes even walking miles to get water.
This unpaid work has a severe impact on women’s economic opportunities, as they do not have time to generate income to become independent.
Early marriage
In some regions, women are encouraged to marry young. Early marriage has all sorts of consequences on gender equity. Girls who are married cannot finish their studies and have no other opportunities; their only choice is to follow the traditional roles assigned to their gender. This way, they enter a vicious circle of gender-based inequalities.
"A world freed from hunger is only possible in a world freed from gender-based violence and injustice"
Action contre la Faim
HOW CAN WE END THIS FOOD INEQUALITY?
A world freed from hunger is only possible in a world freed from gender-based violence and injustice.
Gender-based violence and malnutrition are part of a vicious circle. Growing gender inequality and imbalance between men and women in terms of social power are both the cause and the consequence of this violence.
Fighting for equal rights and against hunger
Action contre la Faim has implemented various programmes to break the vicious circle of gender and malnutrition by reducing inequalities and offering opportunities to the most vulnerable women.
For example, in 2016, we launched the ‘Porridge Moms’ programme in the war-torn region of Borno State, Nigeria. This programme aims to provide mothers with nutritional advice and peer support to reduce the burden of malnutrition imposed on them by patriarchal gender norms. Every day, the ‘Porridge Moms’ get together and prepare nutritious meals for themselves and their children – not just for men. While they cook, the mothers and the Action contre la Faim teams exchange information on nutrition, healthy childcare practices and good hygiene. At the same time, the group receives a monthly allowance to pay for food and other costs, which ensures that unpaid domestic work is more recognised.
© Sébastien Duijndam pour Action contre la Faim
© Sébastien Duijndam pour Action contre la Faim
© Sébastien Duijndam pour Action contre la Faim
In Kenya, we have built wells in order to reduce the distance women must walk to go and collect drinking water. In parallel, we have helped them to build their own vegetable gardens near water sources, so that they can grow and share their own food. These vegetable gardens promote empowerment and give women control over food production and consumption. This makes them less vulnerable to food discrimination.
In Iraq, Jordan and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Action contre la Faim offers women business opportunities. By providing them with equipment and training, we have helped these women to start up income-generating activities. They have been able to open their own shops and businesses and have become their own boss. This way, they have more access to and control over financial resources, which are traditionally monopolised by men.
© Sébastien Duijndam pour Action contre la Faim
© Sébastien Duijndam pour Action contre la Faim
© Sébastien Duijndam pour Action contre la Faim
This is just some of the action we have taken to reduce gender and food inequality in the areas where we operate. It is crucial in order to tackle men’s privilege in the sphere of food and give more opportunities and power to women. Fighting against hunger also means making sure women no longer have to make do with crumbs.
