omen are responsible for half of the world’s food production; in most developing countries, women produce between 60 and 80% of food. Yet they own just a fraction of the land on which they live and work.
This week at COP27, where food security and gender are high priorities, I spoke with Esther Mwaura Muiru, global advocacy director at the Stand for Her Land campaign and Dan Glickman, former United States secretary of agriculture.
They shared unique insights, based on their expansive advocacy and policy careers, on how women’s land rights and supportive policies can bolster climate resilience, food security, and sustainability in communities.
Editors’ Note: What follows is a Q&A which has been lightly edited for conciseness and clarity.
Judit Arenas: Women’s land rights do not get the attention they deserve. However, in agricultural economies, they are critical for a range of development objectives, not least food security, environmental protection, gender equality and health. Esther, what does Stand for Her Land (S4HL) hope to achieve in this context?
Esther Mwaura Muiru: Land rights are significant because land is power. When women own and control the land they farm and live on, the balance of power is redressed. Land ownership provides security for women and empowers them to make decisions that benefit their communities. They have greater access to credit and technology and are more likely to invest in their land, leading directly to increased and more sustainable agricultural output. Stand For Her Land is a coalition of community groups in Africa, Asia, and South America working in partnership with local and national governments to implement policies that secure women’s land rights.
JA: Dan, your distinguished career has been defined by your interest in farming, food, and nutrition – from your position as U.S. secretary of griculture to your current roles at the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. It has also been guided by the principles of equality and justice. What can be done to elevate the role of rural women in the food security dialogue and also ensure their rights are realized?
Dan Glickman: How agriculture affects women and other smallholder farms, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, has historically been a lower priority for government policymakers during the past decade. However, several private sector and NGO participants have invested more in recent years to provide technical agricultural assistance to women and smallholder farmers. Yet very little attention has been given to land reform efforts to ensure women farmers get ownership rights over the farms they operate. This is distressing given that women farmers produce well over half of crop and animal production.
JA: Esther, what drew you to working on women’s land rights? What has been a pivotal moment in your advocacy?
EMM: I grew up in a peasant farming family. I lived poverty first-hand. The level of hunger and lack of basic needs in families where the women had no control over productive assets, especially land, was clear. Whether in health, access to decent housing, quality food, participation in public affairs, or dealing with the climate crisis and recurring disasters, land rights are at the intersection of all these issues.
I founded GROOTS Kenya after attending the 1995 UN Women Conference in Beijing, China. It is a women’s movement of more than 3,000 community-organized rural and urban groups living in poverty, pushing for participation in local decision-making forums that affect them and their neighbours. Similar to the Stand for Her Land structure, GROOTS advocates for women to own the land they live and work in, be part of, and lead community decision-making.
JA: On the back of external shocks, including the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and extreme weather events, the global food crisis has risen to the top of the political agenda. Dan, what should leaders prioritize to promote inclusive, sustainable, healthy food systems?
DG: These issues, as well as food and nutrition security issues more generally, must be given priority attention at the multinational level, at G20 and G8 meetings, and at the UN (CGIAR, FAO, World Food Program, USAID, etc). Truthfully, it is only in recent years that agricultural issues writ large have been a focus of serious discussion at high policy levels, but the crisis in Ukraine certainly has focused global attention on their importance.
JA: Esther, what are the main challenges women face regarding land rights?
EMM: Patriarchy, stifled voice in governance affairs, lack of data on women’s land rights and their contribution to development, and weak–or lack of–legal frameworks to ensure secure land tenure for women. In places where standards critical to advance women’s land rights exist, they are not consistently enforced because of cultural barriers or a lack of resources for monitoring and enforcement. We need more commitments and more investment from governments. We need to shift inhibiting cultural norms so that the right for women to own land becomes the norm.
JA: You are participating at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, where food security and gender equality are issues that are gaining more prominence on the annual COP climate change agenda. Esther, what is your message to delegates facing the critical issues of our changing climate, the need for greater economic resilience and improved food production?
EMM: Act with urgency. Accelerate the speed of implementing existing commitments and dedicating adequate resources so that women have secure land tenure and, equally important, access to finance and capital. The FAO has estimated that if women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20–30%. When women own land, they invest in sustainable land use. They generate nutritious food for families and communities. They generate livelihoods. They have the power to unlock development potential while adding considerably towards solutions aimed at protecting the environment and increasing food supplies.
During this final week of COP27, a common thread continues to connect the multitude of conversations here in Sharm el-Sheikh: climate resilience and food security are fundamentally linked. Women’s land rights are an essential part of the solution at the intersection of both issues. If we are to combat climate change effectively while ensuring food security, we should heed the advice of experts like Esther and Dan: act with urgency, implementing policies to secure women’s land rights.
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Food Security, Climate Resilience Hinge on Women’s Land Rights
Photo by Annie Spratt via Unsplash.
November 18, 2022
At COP27, APCO Worldwide's Judit Arenas spoke with Stand for Her Land’s Esther Mwaura Muiru and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman about climate resilience and food security and how women’s land rights are an essential part of the solution at the intersection of both issues.
W
omen are responsible for half of the world’s food production; in most developing countries, women produce between 60 and 80% of food. Yet they own just a fraction of the land on which they live and work.
This week at COP27, where food security and gender are high priorities, I spoke with Esther Mwaura Muiru, global advocacy director at the Stand for Her Land campaign and Dan Glickman, former United States secretary of agriculture.
They shared unique insights, based on their expansive advocacy and policy careers, on how women’s land rights and supportive policies can bolster climate resilience, food security, and sustainability in communities.
Editors’ Note: What follows is a Q&A which has been lightly edited for conciseness and clarity.
Judit Arenas: Women’s land rights do not get the attention they deserve. However, in agricultural economies, they are critical for a range of development objectives, not least food security, environmental protection, gender equality and health. Esther, what does Stand for Her Land (S4HL) hope to achieve in this context?
Esther Mwaura Muiru: Land rights are significant because land is power. When women own and control the land they farm and live on, the balance of power is redressed. Land ownership provides security for women and empowers them to make decisions that benefit their communities. They have greater access to credit and technology and are more likely to invest in their land, leading directly to increased and more sustainable agricultural output. Stand For Her Land is a coalition of community groups in Africa, Asia, and South America working in partnership with local and national governments to implement policies that secure women’s land rights.
JA: Dan, your distinguished career has been defined by your interest in farming, food, and nutrition – from your position as U.S. secretary of griculture to your current roles at the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. It has also been guided by the principles of equality and justice. What can be done to elevate the role of rural women in the food security dialogue and also ensure their rights are realized?
Dan Glickman: How agriculture affects women and other smallholder farms, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, has historically been a lower priority for government policymakers during the past decade. However, several private sector and NGO participants have invested more in recent years to provide technical agricultural assistance to women and smallholder farmers. Yet very little attention has been given to land reform efforts to ensure women farmers get ownership rights over the farms they operate. This is distressing given that women farmers produce well over half of crop and animal production.
JA: Esther, what drew you to working on women’s land rights? What has been a pivotal moment in your advocacy?
EMM: I grew up in a peasant farming family. I lived poverty first-hand. The level of hunger and lack of basic needs in families where the women had no control over productive assets, especially land, was clear. Whether in health, access to decent housing, quality food, participation in public affairs, or dealing with the climate crisis and recurring disasters, land rights are at the intersection of all these issues.
I founded GROOTS Kenya after attending the 1995 UN Women Conference in Beijing, China. It is a women’s movement of more than 3,000 community-organized rural and urban groups living in poverty, pushing for participation in local decision-making forums that affect them and their neighbours. Similar to the Stand for Her Land structure, GROOTS advocates for women to own the land they live and work in, be part of, and lead community decision-making.
JA: On the back of external shocks, including the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and extreme weather events, the global food crisis has risen to the top of the political agenda. Dan, what should leaders prioritize to promote inclusive, sustainable, healthy food systems?
DG: These issues, as well as food and nutrition security issues more generally, must be given priority attention at the multinational level, at G20 and G8 meetings, and at the UN (CGIAR, FAO, World Food Program, USAID, etc). Truthfully, it is only in recent years that agricultural issues writ large have been a focus of serious discussion at high policy levels, but the crisis in Ukraine certainly has focused global attention on their importance.
JA: Esther, what are the main challenges women face regarding land rights?
EMM: Patriarchy, stifled voice in governance affairs, lack of data on women’s land rights and their contribution to development, and weak–or lack of–legal frameworks to ensure secure land tenure for women. In places where standards critical to advance women’s land rights exist, they are not consistently enforced because of cultural barriers or a lack of resources for monitoring and enforcement. We need more commitments and more investment from governments. We need to shift inhibiting cultural norms so that the right for women to own land becomes the norm.
JA: You are participating at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, where food security and gender equality are issues that are gaining more prominence on the annual COP climate change agenda. Esther, what is your message to delegates facing the critical issues of our changing climate, the need for greater economic resilience and improved food production?
EMM: Act with urgency. Accelerate the speed of implementing existing commitments and dedicating adequate resources so that women have secure land tenure and, equally important, access to finance and capital. The FAO has estimated that if women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20–30%. When women own land, they invest in sustainable land use. They generate nutritious food for families and communities. They generate livelihoods. They have the power to unlock development potential while adding considerably towards solutions aimed at protecting the environment and increasing food supplies.
During this final week of COP27, a common thread continues to connect the multitude of conversations here in Sharm el-Sheikh: climate resilience and food security are fundamentally linked. Women’s land rights are an essential part of the solution at the intersection of both issues. If we are to combat climate change effectively while ensuring food security, we should heed the advice of experts like Esther and Dan: act with urgency, implementing policies to secure women’s land rights.
