The gender gap in global agriculture

In a strong talk on Gender Lens Investing last week at SOCAP (Social Capital Markets), Jackie VanderBrug mentioned some figures I hadn’t heard, including one she cited to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) about the potential to increase global agricultural output through investments in women farmers.

From the FAO press release to their 2011 The State of Food and Agriculture report:

Just giving women the same access as men to agricultural resources could increase production on women’s farms in developing countries by 20 to 30 percent. This could raise total agricultural production in developing countries by 2.5 to 4 percent, which could in turn reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12 to 17 percent, or 100 to 150 million people. An estimated 925 million people in the world were undernourished in 2010, of which 906 million live in developing countries.

More at farmingfirst.org/women.

Here’s the video:

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