摘要：Meeting world food needs in the year 2020 will depend even more than it does now on thecapabilities and resources of women. Women are responsible for generating food security for theirfamilies in many developing countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Women not onlyprocess, purchase, and prepare food, but they also play a significant role in national agriculturalproduction, producing both food and cash crops. Population growth, urbanization, and the limitedpotential for increasing production through the expansion of cultivated area imply that, for foodneeds to be met in the future, yields will have to increase. Agricultural research continues todevelop new varieties with higher yields and increased tolerance to unfavorable environmentalconditions, but an untapped source of productivity gains could lie in addressing gender disparitiesin agriculture. This brief examines the key roles that women play in maintaining the three pillars offood security--food production, food access, and food utilization--and it looks at howstrengthening these pillars through policies that enhance women's abilities and resources providesa solution to meeting world food needs in the year 2020.
