Volume 1, Number 3
October 1995

Conferences

A 2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture, and the Environment

In late 1993, IFPRI began an initiative to look to the year 2020 to identify the most critical issues that must be confronted if the worlds' growing population is to be fed and the livelihoods of today's poor and hungry are to be improved. In June 1995, a major international conference, cosponsored by IFPRI and The National Geographic Society, was held to bring together representatives from nongovernmental organizations, government, and aid agencies as well as researchers and other interested parties from around the world to discuss the 2020 research findings. Many of us who attended were encouraged to hear a keynote address by H.E. Speciosa Wandira Kazibe, the Vice President of Uganda, in which she spotlighted the importance of women in Sub-Saharan African agriculture. She gave a stirring address in which she highlighted the pitfalls and constraints facing African women farmers. She graphically explained the nature of rainfed farming, where the agricultural tools are the hoe, the machete, the ax, and energy supplied by human muscles generally women's. Copies of all speeches are included in a single volume, published by IFPRI.

Beijing Conference Focus Day on Rural Women

Actions and policies to improve rural women's welfare were discussed during a panel on rural women organized by FAO at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing on September 7, 1995. The morning session, entitled "Rural Women: Issues and Challenges Beyond Beijing," focused on women's roles in agriculture and food security in two panels. Chaired by Ms. Victoria Sekitoleko (FAO), the focus day began with opening remarks from Mr. Ajmal Qureshi, FAO representative in China. In the first panel, Dr. Leena Kirjavainen (FAO) presented a broad overview of rural women, food systems, and agriculture, followed by a presentation by Dr. Lynn Bennett (World Bank) on rural financing. The latter drew on case studies of NGO efforts in Asia to improve access to, and sustainability of, financial services for women. Chief Bisi Ogunleye, a hereditary chief in Nigeria, spoke about grassroots efforts to empower rural women. She brought product samples from rural women's groups, and said that such products would henceforth be marketed with a stamp indicating that they were made by rural women. Dr. Pablo Eyzaguirre (IPGRI) discussed women's roles as guardians of plant biodiversity through their roles as producers and managers of indigenous farming systems.

The second panel dealt mostly with gender and food security issues. Dr. Mona Fikry (IFAD) spoke about IFAD strategies to reduce poverty and improve food security. She discussed the importance of targeting interventions to the poor. She also mentioned that IFAD was the first funder of the Grameen Bank, which has successfully provided credit to poor, rural women in Bangladesh. Ms. Els Kocken (WFP) discussed food aid programs as part of reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in emergency situations. Both Fikry and Kocken emphasized their organizations' strategies to improve food security by reaching rural women. Ms. Vidya Stokes of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers expounded upon actual initiatives and projects undertaken by women farmers. Finally, Dr. Agnes Quisumbing (IFPRI) highlighted the importance of women's income and time in achieving food and nutrition security.