A four-day long conference, hosted by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to begin in New Delhi on Monday, will discuss lack of access to women farmers to land rights, farm inputs and the inequality in agriculture. President Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate the conference, which will be attended by agriculture scientists, farmers and policy makers from about 60 countries.
Talking to reporters about the conference, ICAR Director General Himanshu Pathak said recommendations on addressing gender inequality at the field of agriculture would be sent to the policy makers of these 60 countries. He said the measures to address this inequality must be equitable and scientifically correct. “It must be just in social, scientific and policy point of view. We want to do things scientifically,” Dr. Pathak said adding that the issues confronted by women farmers are bigger issues. “We will deliberate those aspects. If we come up with recommendations, we will send it to policy makers so that they take note of it and unjust becomes just,” he added.
Director of the CGIAR’s Gender Impact Platform Nicoline de Haan said one of the areas where discussions would take place during the conference is financial inclusion. “We are looking for solutions. Financial inclusion is very important. We are working on issues such as lack of access to seeds and fertilisers to women farmers,” Dr. Haan said.
Titled as “From Research to Impact: Towards Just and Resilient Agri-Food Systems, the international research conference will address gender and social inequalities in agri-food systems. “The conference aims to promote the sharing of cutting-edge knowledge on gender and inclusion in agri-food systems to help bridge the gap between research and practice and foster gender-equal and socially inclusive, resilient food systems,” the agenda of the conference said. The conference is held annually.
Gender and social inclusion lens on resilience in the context of climate change, COVID-19 and other shocks and stressors; From women’s empowerment to gender transformative change in agri-food systems; Gender-responsive and -transformative agri-food systems innovations; Fostering equitable market systems; Delivering nutrition, food security and health for all and Youth and agri-food systems are the six themes to be taken up in the conference.
