Women and Food Crises: How US Food Aid Policies Can Better Support their Struggles, A Discussion Paper
Source: ActionAid
The United States is the single largest provider of food aid, supplying about half of total global resources. While there is no doubt that this aid has saved countless lives, the current program is based on an outdated model which is dependent on the shipment of US commodities to developing countries. When its food aid program was created over 50 years ago, the US had 2 substantial excess food reserves. Food aid served as an outlet for those excess stocks while also serving vital humanitarian objectives. Food aid programs were also intended to bolster US political objectives and to create new export markets for US goods. Times have changed, but food aid programs have not.
Furthermore, over the last few decades, food crises have become distressingly common phenomena. Women are often at the center of these emergencies, though the disproportionate impact of hunger on women is too often hidden within the dire aggregate statistics. But the role of women in providing solutions to these crises is also too often overlooked. This discussion paper lays out some of the key issues in modern food crises and explores some opportunities for engaging women more actively in the quest for more effective answers. Among the recommendations made in the report include for donors, the need to stop imposing trade rules and economic policy conditions that make it difficut for African government to support smallholder farmes, and push them towards excessive relaicne on export-driven agriculture at the expense of food crops for local markets. The recommendations for African governments include the need to promote and enforce women’s rights to land, credit, water, seeds and other productive resources.
Click here to read the full article