Food crisis, women, and agriculture

So, what exactly does the current price jump in commodities have to do with women and the environment?  It's a complex and somewhat subtle link, not as in-your-face as direct pollution or chemical exposure.

The environmental link is perhaps the easiest to see.  To reduce a complicated chain of events to its most basic: global warming and ensuing droughts in big agricultural production nations like Australia have caused a shortage in available grains.  Add to that changes in the economies of net food importers like China, whose population increasingly has the means to buy more food (including grain-intensive red meat, which costs 3 times the grain for the same calorie count as regular wheat alone), and you have yourself the making of a classic supply and demand scenario.  Supply is down, demand is up--and so are prices.

A recent report from UNESCO states that "modern agricultural practices have exhausted land and water resources, squelched diversity and left poor people vulnerable to high food prices, even though they are also highly productive."

The growing involvement of women in agriculture in developing countries is creating worsening health and work conditions for them and is reducing their access to education. The report states: 

 "The largest proportion of rural women worldwide continues to face deteriorating health and work conditions, limited access to education and control over natural resources, insecure employment and low income. This situation is due to a variety of factors, including the growing competition on agricultural markets which increases the demand for flexible and cheap labor, growing pressure on and conflicts over natural resources, the diminishing support by governments for small-scale farms and the reallocation of economic resources in favor of large agroenterprises. Other factors include increasing exposure to risks related to natural disasters and environmental changes, worsening access to water, increasing occupational and health risks."

As men migrate to cities and other countries in search of jobs, women are tasked with taking over agricultural responsibilities, using more of their energy and exposing them to pesticides and fertilizers in large concentrations.  Limited education has been associated with higher fertility rates, which in turn can increase a woman or girl's risk of maternal mortality.

The problems with tackling inter-connected issues such as this is that they seem so overwhelming.  And which do you address first: health, poverty, sustainability? The answer seems to be a little of each all at once.  People will sacrifice their health to eat and gain a foothold out of poverty.  They will sacrifice sustainability if they are starving.  And women's rights often come last on the list of priorities in such circumstances.  But kudos to UNESCO for putting out such an important and thought-provoking report!  Let's hope it gets some serious attention by those who create policies for the developing world...