2 June , Dr. Avnish jolly :According to transcription of radio broadcast – The U.N. holds a conference on world food security this week in Rome. In Washington, a research group says greater investment among female farmers would increase agricultural productivity.
On Tuesday, the United Nations will open a "food summit" in Rome. Leaders and officials from around the world will meet at the Food and Agriculture Organizations (F.A.O.) Headquarters. F.A.O. says they will discuss the effects of rising food prices, limited resources, climate change, increased energy needs and population growth. United Nations agency says the three-day summit offers a historic chance to re-launch the fight against hunger and poverty. Another goal is to increase agricultural production in developing countries. Developing will likely spend up to one hundred seventy billion dollars this year to import food — up by forty percent from last year.
Resent report came from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the F.A.O. says agricultural prices should be eased from their recent record highs. International prices for most crops have started to drop, mainly because of increased production. But over the next ten years, food prices are expected to be more than average levels of the past ten years. World grains supplies are low and need to be rescheduled.
Rekha Mehra, Director for Economic and Development Issues says improving women’s ability to get resources and technology can directly increase agricultural productivity. After all, women power produce eighty percent of the food in developing countries. In parts of Africa, for example, men are responsible for cash crops while women are generally responsible for food crops and, around the world; women are the ones mainly responsible for their families’ nutrition.
Women farmers usually have to own land to receive loans and other resources. Yet, in many developing countries, women do not have property rights like men. Rekha Mehra says the right to own land will lead to greater investment in the land. She says world leaders need to think about these gender issues when they meet in Rome this week.
But what about long-term answers to food security? The International Center for Research on Women says for food security only solution is investing more on female farmers.