Women play a central role in agrifood systems across sub-Saharan Africa, leading through innovation, entrepreneurship, and resilience. Despite their critical contributions, women face significant barriers in accessing and controlling essential resources, limiting their wellbeing and development. Gender inequalities remain a major obstacle to addressing hunger and poverty in the region, where over 307 million people experienced hunger in 2024. Addressing these disparities requires strong political will, collective commitment, and effective policy tools such as the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment (VG-GEWGE).
To explore practical implementation of these guidelines, representatives from Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone convened in Accra, Ghana, for a workshop organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The event brought together decision-makers and senior technical officers from government ministries, civil society, and farmers’ organizations to identify ways to apply the VG-GEWGE recommendations in national policies and programs. Discussions covered strategies to address women’s and girls’ nutrition, food security, and the recognition, reduction, and redistribution of unpaid care and domestic work.
Abebe Haile-Gabriel, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, emphasized that gender equality is essential not only as a social goal but also as an economic strategy and prerequisite for transforming Africa’s agrifood systems. Participants engaged in detailed sessions to understand the guidelines’ principles and explore how they could be adapted to national priorities. Governments committed to identifying opportunities to revise agricultural and gender policies, civil society organizations suggested community-level outreach through radio, and the private sector pledged to review programs for alignment with the guidelines.
The workshop concluded with renewed commitment from all stakeholders to integrate the VG-GEWGE recommendations into national strategies and daily practices. Participants shared personal reflections, underscoring the urgency of change, including breaking cycles of inequality in land ownership and resource access.
This workshop marks the first in a series of regional initiatives under the Programme for the Dissemination and Uptake of the VG-GEWGE, led by FAO with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Global Affairs Canada, and the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The program aims to disseminate the guidelines in at least ten countries by 2026, in line with FAO’s Commit to Grow Equality initiative. By fostering gender equality in agrifood systems, FAO and its partners aim to enhance food security and reduce hunger and poverty, reinforcing the principle that when women thrive, communities thrive.
