Policy and business leaders have used a major food conference to
highlight the need for more women in the global agriculture sector.
One
of the speakers, Chelsea Clinton, told delegates that women were a
"crucial, vital and necessary" part of delivering global food
security.
Data
shows that progress has been made in recent years, but there is still a long
way to go to close the gender gap.
The
call for equality was made at the 2015 Borlaug Dialogue in the US.
"Certainly,
we are not on track at the moment to feed the population we expect to have
around the world in 2050," Ms Clinton, vice-president of the Clinton
Foundation, told the gathering.
One
of the themes of the three-day event, which focused on the "fundamentals
of global food security", was inspiring young women to take up careers in
science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem).
Global
problem
Another
speaker, Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg - director of the Kenya-based African Women in
Agricultural Research and Development (Award) - outlined some of the
challenges.
"We
need to increase the number of women scientists but first of all we need to
create a conducive environment in which they work. It is as much about
institutional transformation as it is about investing in individuals," she
said.
"It
can be a little too easy to pretend that this is only an African problem, hence
a cultural problem. But that is not true; we have got the same challenge in the
UK, across Europe and in the US.
"It is a global
problem so we have to change the global culture surrounding science and who can
be a scientist."
A
report produced by the Campaign for Science and Engineering (Case) that
examined diversity in UK Stem said that just 9% of those involved in
non-medical Stem posts were women.
However,
it also highlighted that the problems facing the science sector in the UK went
beyond gender equality. The authors reported that there was an annual shortfall
of 40,000 skilled Stem workers.
Dr
Kamau-Rutenberg told the BBC the shortfall illustrated why it was critical to
attract more young women to pursue careers in the Stem sector.
"We
need to expand the pool of talent and increase the number of scientists.
Investing in women scientists is a really good way to solve the problem of not
enough scientists being available to do the work."
Mentoring
She
said Award offered a career development programme that was "investing in
high-potential African women and agricultural scientists".
As
well as developing technical skills, Award provided leadership training and a
mentoring network.
"We
just know that people do so much better at achieving their potential as a
result of mentoring - when they are in a community of peers and when they are
connected to senior scientists," she said.
Dr
Kamau-Rutenberg added that just under half of the mentors in the network were
men: "This is fantastic because we are able to engage men in this journey
of investing in women scientists."
She said that a
speech by US President Barack Obama, during his visit to Kenya in June, showed
the importance of giving women the opportunity to "earn a place at the
decision-making table".
Mr
Obama had told a gathering at a sports stadium: "Any nation that fails to
educate its girls or employ its women and allow them to maximise their
potential is doomed to fall behind the global economy.
"We're
in a sports centre. Imagine if you have a team and don't let half of the team
play. That's stupid. That makes no sense."
Beyond
the farm gate
Data
from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that the gender gap
extended to access to agricultural resources and opportunities.
The
FAO said: "Closing the gender gap in agriculture would generate
significant gains for the agriculture sector and for society.
"If
women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase
yields on their farms by 20-30%."
Dr
Kamau-Rutenberg went further: "It is not enough to talk about African
women in agriculture and leave the conversation at the farm level.
"There
is no point pretending that the only place it is important to talk gender, and
the roles of men and women in agriculture, is on the farms.
"We
also need to transform the landscape when it comes to research and development.
It is really important that we have both men and women setting the research
agenda."
By Mark KinverEnvironment reporter, BBC News
