Guyana making strides to improve gender equality in agri, rural sector – FAO report

Guyanese women have long been involved in agricultural activities and are considered to be the main contributors to food production and processing, yet efforts can be made to improve gender equality within the country’s agriculture and rural sector, a recently released Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report revealed.
The report, “Country Gender Assessment of the Agriculture and Rural Sector,” examined gender dynamics and issues within Guyana’s agriculture and rural sector, and recommended solutions to address gender inequalities and empower rural women.
“Mainstreaming gender equality is an ongoing endeavour that is among the priority areas for national development. Therefore, the Country Gender Assessment (CGA) serves as a reference to advocate for gender equality and women’s rights in the agriculture and rural sector, as we progress the mandate to leave no one behind,” Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha stated in the report.
The CGA recognised the progress that the country has made in providing access to resources for both men and women, with efforts dating back to the initiation of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1980.
Guyana’s score of 72.8 per cent, ranking 53rd out of 156 countries, in the 2021 Global Gender Gap Index is reflective of this progress.
However, though the agriculture sector employs most of Guyana’s workforce – some 12.1 per cent of the country’s employed population – it is estimated that men are employed 3.17 times more than women and those women are also more likely to be unpaid workers, according to the CGA.
Land ownership is also recognised to be predominantly male, there is limited participation of women in decision-making roles within the industry as well as gaps in education, access to resources, financial support and in the mechanisms for integrating gender in the institutions responsible for agriculture and rural development, the CGA found.
There are several laws and policies that consider gender discrimination: CEDAW, Article 29, Chapter II of the Constitution which advocates for women’s participation in the various management and decision-making processes and the National Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (NGESI) Policy that provides an overarching framework that considers the reduction of constraints to basic human rights of marginalised groups.
“However, there are gaps in the implementation of policy commitments due to a lack of technical capacity, lack of adequate resources to support work on gender mainstreaming, and weak accountability mechanisms,” the report added.
The CGA offered several suggestions to address these concerns including conducting an agriculture census to improve systems of data collection pertaining to agriculture and rural development, strengthening the capacity of all relevant Ministries to monitor and report on the impact of their policies and plans in a gender-sensitive manner, and implementing a comprehensive monitoring framework on gender equality and rural women’s empowerment.
“As the lead institution guiding multiple agencies, the Agriculture Ministry should formulate a Gender, Agriculture and Rural Development Policy, Action Plan, or Framework that outlines a local context appropriate approach to gender mainstreaming,” the report added.
“This can be the starting point for agencies to ensure that projects and programmes are gender-responsive with efforts that are geared to close the gender gap in agriculture and rural labour markets, particularly in areas of education, agriculture extension, and financial services.”
The CGA also called for improved access to financial mechanisms for women and other marginalised groups to ensure access to land, equipment and other resources, for students enrolled in technical/vocational and tertiary institutions to receive appropriate gender training and for additional support to be given to ensure that intragovernmental mechanism for the advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment in the sector is functional.
“The recommendations will require all stakeholders from the Government, development partners, civil society organisations (CSOs) and the private sector to be involved to achieve inclusive agricultural growth,” the report concluded while adding “This is key to ensuring that men and women can maximise their potential in the sustainable development of Guyana.”