By Brigitte Bagnol

Gender and food and nutrition security

• Research Associate, Department of Anthropology. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

• Research Assistant Professor, Infectious Disease and Global Health Department, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, USA

• Researcher associated with the International Rural Poultry Centre (IRPC), KYEEMA Foundation, Australia, www.kyeemafoundation.org

Food Security Forum 2014 Good food, good health: delivering the benefits of food security in Australia and beyond

University of Sydney. 17th March

Multiple forms of malnutrition exist and often coexist : • Low birth weight, wasting, stunting • Micronutrient deficiencies • Overweight, obesity • Diet related non communicable diseases

Underlying causes are multiples and include but not limited to:

• Household food insecurity • Inadequate diet • Unhealthy household environment, including safe water • Inadequate health services

Aspects to take into consideration:

Different roles of men and women in relation to food production, conservation, preparation and human health

Different nutritional needs of men and women during their life cycle and in relation to nutritional issues

Different nutritional problems faced by men and women

Gender inequalities are a cause and a consequence of malnutrition 4

3 2

1

1- Different roles in relation to food production, conservation, preparation

and health

Women carry out: Most of the agriculture work; Most of the food conservation; Most of the household food preparation; Most of the water and sanitation activities; Most of the health care for children, adults and

elderly.

1- Different roles in relation to food production, conservation, preparation

and health

Heterogeneity within countries and among countries in relation to work in agriculture Labour burden of rural women exceeds that

of men Female labour burden includes higher

proportion of unpaid household work

1- Different roles in relation to food production, conservation, preparation

and health

Women are at the intersection of agriculture, health and nutrition

It is a special place but needs to be shared fully

with men

2- Different nutritional needs during men and women life cycle

Physiological factors such as menstruation, pregnancy and lactation necessitate specific nutritional requirements (e.g. iron).

Pre-maternal nutrition is critically important: – Underweight before conception increases the

likelihood of preterm delivery and giving birth to underweight babies;

– Many birth abnormalities occur during the first weeks of gestation.

2- Different nutritional needs during men and women life cycle

Widespread nutrition deprivation among women perpetuates an inter-generational cycle of nutrition deprivation in children. Women are given the responsibility – but

often not the means (decision, economic, knowledge, etc.) – to ensure optimal nutrition for themselves and their children.

3 - Different nutritional problems faced by men and women

Women more vulnerable to obesity, anorexia, bulimia; anemia; Overall, prevalence of undernutrition rate

are similar between adult men and women, except for South East Asia were prevalence rate are higher for women and differences are exceptionally large in some communities*

Undernutrition, overweight and obesity might be found in the same community and the same household

* (Nubé M, Van Den Boom GJ. Gender and adult undernutrition in developing countries. Ann Hum Biol. 2003 Sep-Oct;30(5):520-37.)

Worldwide gender disparities in overweight and obesity

Kanter, Rebecca and Benjamin Caballero. 2012. Global gender disparities in obesity: A review. Advances in Nutrition, 3:491-498.

Population coverage (%) by anemia prevalence surveys (1993-2005)

De Benoist, Bruno; McLean, Erin; Egli, Ines; Cogswell, Mary. 2008. Worldwide prevalence of anemia 1993-2005: Who global database on anemia.

WHO region Pregnant women Non pregnant women Men

Africa (46) 65.8 (22) 61.4 (23) 21.9 (11)

America (35) 53.8 (15) 56.2 (13) 34.3 (2)

South East Asia (110 85.6 (8) 85.4 (10) 4.1 (2)

Europe (52) 8.3 (4) 28.0 (12) 14.1 (3)

Eastern Mediterranean (21)

58.7 (7) 73.5 (11) 27.5 (6)

Western Pacific (27) 90.2 (8) 96.9 (13) 96.2 (10)

Global (192) 69.0 (64) 73.5 (82) 40.2 (34)

Iron and calcium deficiencies contribute substantially to maternal deaths

Maternal iron deficiency is associated with babies with low weight

Undernutrition (fetal growth restriction, suboptimum breastfeeding, stunting, wasting, deficiencies in vitamin A and zinc) cause 45% of the child deaths

(Black et al. 2013. Lancet)

3 - Different nutritional problems: Women carry the additional burden of giving birth and raising malnourished children

Cultural bias toward certain types of food and devaluing of local food (often imply reduction of diversity and proper food)

Adoption of a Western food style and often devaluing nutritious locally available nutritious food in favor of culinary preparations ready for consumption.

3 - Different nutritional problems: Women carry the additional burden of preparing food for the household

Chronically malnourished mothers with limited access to adequate prenatal, delivery, and postnatal care are at increased risk of delivering undernourished babies. These, in turn, are at greater risk of limited growth and development, to suffer higher rates of infection, and face a greater probability of death from infection and undernutrition.

4- Gender inequalities are a cause and a consequence of malnutrition

Undernutrition negatively influence intellectual and physical capacities, affects labour productivity and the ability of the undernourished to make a living, thus establishing a poverty and undernutrition cycle.

4 - Gender inequalities are a cause and a consequence of malnutrition

A high proportion of adolescents have their first child at a young age (sub-Saharan Africa is the highest with 118 births per 1000 girls*);

Teen pregnancies carry extra health risks to both the mother and the baby;

It includes premature birth and low birth weight.

4 - Gender inequalities are a cause and a consequence of malnutrition: Teen pregnancy

* (The MDG report, 2013)

Women often feed the household before feeding themselves, saving less expensive, less nutritious and leftover food for themselves and giving preferences to boys over daughters.

4 - Gender inequalities are a cause and a consequence of malnutrition: Beliefs and practices place women at a disadvantage

Mainly wife Wife and husband

jointly

Mainly husband

Tanz. Zambia Tanz. Zambia Tanz. Zambia

Own health care 15.8 31.7 45.0 33.0 38.1 34.0

Table 1: Decision Making Percentage distribution of currently married women by person who usually takes decisions about health care (Tanzania DHS, 2010; Zambia DHS, 2007)

4 - Gender inequalities are a cause and a consequence of malnutrition: Beliefs and practices place women in disadvantage

Women may not have the decision-making authority to take their children to the health center and to consult the health center for their own health issues (Kishor, 2000; Kritz et al., 2000).

4 - Gender inequalities Primary and lower secondary school age children out of school by household wealth and sex, 63 countries, 2005-2011 (percentage)

(The MDG report, 2013)

4 - Gender inequalities

(The MDG report, 2013)

Employment-to-population ratio, women and men, 2012* (Percentage)

4 - Gender inequalities

(The MDG report, 2013)

Proportion of seats held by women in single or lower houses of national parliament, 2000 and 2013 (Percentage)

4 - Gender inequalities Women are benefiting only of

5% of extension services. Women have less access to inputs such as improved seeds, fertilizers and equipment as a result their yield is lower than those of men. http://www.fao.org/gender/infographic/en/

Only 15% of the world’s

extension agents are women. http://www.fao.org/gender/infographic/en/

It is considered that only 10%

of the aid goes to women. http://www.fao.org/gender/infographic/en/

Women have also less

possibility to have access to markets (Njuki, 2012).

http://www.fao.org/gender/infographic/en/

4 - Gender inequalities

Improving women’s access to inputs and services has the potential to increase women yield to the same level as those of men implying an improvement of 2.5/4% of total agricultural output.

It could reduce the number of malnourished people in the world by 100 to 150 million or 12/17%.

(http://www.fao.org/gender/infographic/en/)

Recommendation: Reduce gender inequalities

Empower women by all means and reduce gender inequalities at all levels

Educate women as they are less likely to have undernourished children and as they usually have their first child at a letter age than less educated women.

Female employment also has positive impact on children nutritional status (Engle, 2000)

Recommendation: Empower women and involve men

Involve men in household nutritional and health issues. Reducing poverty is important but not

enough to address the nutritional deficiencies.

Recommendation: Address the issue broadly

Consider not only the 1000 days window, pregnant and lactating women but also consider men, women and children nutrition.

Address the issue holistically in terms of sustainable livelihood and nutrition system (not quick fix, but a multisectoral approach, including child care, health and water and sanitation) looking specifically at small farmers and the whole food chain.

Recommendation: Address the issue broadly

Improving dietary habits is a societal, not just an individual problem: Develop nutrition awareness programmes for consumers and along the food value chain

Work with food industry and consumers to reduce salt, saturated fat, trans fat and sugar.

Draw clear recommendations: make proper food the base of your diet; use oils, fats, salt and sugar in moderation in food preparation; limit the use of products ready for consumption and, prefer foods instead of culinary preparations

ready for consumption*. * (Guia alimentar para a população do Brasil, 2014)

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the support given by: The Australian Centre for International Agricultural

Research (ACIAR), The Australian Agency for International Development

(AusAID), The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United

Nations (FAO), The KYEEMA Foundation, The Charles Perkins Centre Food and Nutrition Security

Project Node and, The University of Sydney.

Thank you for your attention