Women are the major food producers but are not part of any decision making process

Farah Kabir, ActionAid Bangladesh’s Country Director

Farah was speaking in a talk jointly organized by ActionAid and Expo 2015 in the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on June 17. Participants discussed how to bring changes in the food production system in order to eradicate hunger and, in the process, promote women’s rights and protect the environment mitigating climate change impacts.

Farah explained how society deprives women the recognition of farmers – a case reflected in national policies. She highlighted the gaps in laws of inheritance particularly in the South Asian region that sidelines women and bars decision making. She shared her experiences from Bangladesh where women in Aila (a 2009 cyclone) affected areas led the reproduction of food grains.

Speakers in the talk included Jorge Romano, Senior Governance Advisor –ActionAid, Celso Marcatto, Sustainable Agriculture Advisor – ActionAid and Dr. Vandana Shiva, Founder of Navdanya Research Foundation for Science, Technology & Ecology in India.