Food security, Livelihoods, Economic Empowerment and Gender ICPS Course 2017 Henri Myrttinen hmyrttinen@international-alert.org

Terminology (1) Food security – Food sovereignty – Livelihoods – “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life” (World Food Summit, 1996) Food sovereignty – “the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems” (Food Secure Canada) Livelihoods – means of securing the necessities of life

Terminology (2) Economic empowerment – “the process of harnessing the potential to change one’s economic status, as well as that of the communities and countries in which one lives.” (Adapted from ICRW) Resilience (‘opposite of fragility’) – “A system's capacity to absorb and recover from the occurrence of a hazardous event; reflective of a society's ability to cope and to continue to cope in the future.” (Timmermann, 1981)

How does gender play a role? Exercise: taking your own country as an example, how does gender play a role in social and economic life? Who does what on a daily basis (incl. productive and reproductive work)? Are there pay gaps? Are there glass ceilings? Are there ‘gender ghettoes’ in the workplace/workforce? How does gender affect educational and occupational choices? Are there differences in tax law, inheritance law, adoption law?

Food security and gender Women and girls make up majority of the extremely poor globally Different women have different vulnerabilities (e.g. widows, divorcees, survivors of SGBV) Depending on culture and society, often very different expectations on men and women, including in agriculture Often: Women responsible for private sphere and reproductive work, men for public sphere and productive work But: women also expected to carry out productive tasks Women often lack access to land, resources, information, mobility, finances Men may also be caught between social expectations and reality

Changing economic roles Globally increased participation of women in productive labour and education At times change is gradual, at times (conflict, disaster) sudden, sometimes reversals (e.g. ex-USSR) Feminisation of poverty? Feminisation of precarity Complex impacts of migration, also on family structures and gender expectations Women out-performing men in education – what impact will this have?

Strategies for change Need for societal (and family) consensus to avoid backlash Working with women and men on gender equality Overcoming stereotypes of ‘weak women’ and of ‘lazy men’ Role of “old boys’ networks” Tackling issues of double-/triple burdening