PRESIDENT MICHAEL D Higgins has said that women’s rights in the agriculture sector in developing countries needs to be sufficiently recognised and strengthened.
He made the comment at the Feeding the World in 2050 symposium, Facing the Challenge of Feeding the Hungry of the World, which was an official event of the Irish Presidency of the EU.
When it comes to appeals for famine relief, “the Irish public, perhaps due to historical experience of famine responds generously”, he said.
The President said that during Ireland’s Presidency of the EU, it will use its term to work on long-term sustainable solutions to issues such as hunger.
He explained:
Today chronic hunger affects one in seven or approximately 925 million of the world’s 6.8 billion people every day; the principle source of hunger is the dire poverty exacerbated by gross inequalities that, scandalously, persist. Eradicating this poverty and its consequences is, I suggest, the greatest moral and ethical challenge we, as a global community, face today.
He noted that the FAO estimates that world food production will need to increase by 60 per cent by 2050 to meet the needs of the projected world population of 9 billion people. Potentially 52 million children in sub-Saharan Africa will experience malnutrition by 2050.
A number of other issues need to be confronted if we are to stand in solidarity with the world’s poor and ensure they have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food, said the President. “These include recognising the impact of rising oil prices which will drive the use of land and crops toward bio-fuels with serious implications for global food production,” he said.
Women’s rights
But President Higgins added that it is also essential that appropriate prominence be given to the gender aspect of development policies and projects. He said this would help to ensure that women’s rights in the agriculture sector in developing countries are sufficiently recognised and strengthened.
In terms of agricultural productivity, for instance, we must ensure equal access to productive resources for women who represent the majority of smallholder farmers in developing countries. Control of resources such as land and credit is vital. We know that although women may formally have access to a resource, in reality they might not have a role in decision-making on how that resource is used.
When it comes to a just trading regime, one size doesn’t fit all, added the President.
Trade rules that ignore the point of development often force poor countries to open their economies to goods from rich countries in the name of liberalisation. But poor countries’ farmers and industries are sometimes forced to adopt an imposed liberalisation before they are ready to compete.
There will be a second Presidency event on Hunger Nutrition and Climate Justice in April, which will include key policy makers, global leaders and people facing the realities of rising food prices, failed crops and under-nutrition
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