Accelerating progress towards gender equality in food systems could help reverse recent spikes in hunger and poverty, finds new report

African governments must “urgently redouble” efforts to achieve gender equality in agrifood systems, which is critical to improving women’s nutrition, health, and economic empowerment, according to a new report.
The continent has made progress in recent years by adopting a number of frameworks to support gender equality, according to the Malabo Montpellier Panel, but “slow and fragile” advances have been undermined by shocks like Covid-19 and conflicts.
The report, Bridging the Gap: Policy Innovations to Put Women at the Center of Food Systems Transformation in Africa, posits that agrifood systems designed to work equally for women as for men can contribute to more equitable, resilient, and healthier societies. According to the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa, women’s inability to access finance is projected to reduce Africa’s GDP by US$ 316 billion by 2025; this setback, coupled with unequal access to land, finance, information, and decision-making, is curbing women’s agency in Africa’s food system transformation.