Markets and Trade
Gender equality is essential to achieve FAO’s mandate of a world free from hunger, malnutrition and poverty. FAO is committed to achieving equality between women and men in sustainable agriculture and rural development for the elimination of hunger and poverty. The Markets and Trade Division (EST) contributes to FAO’s objective to ensure that women and men have equal rights and access to agrifood markets, trade and decent work, and equal control over the resulting income and benefits, in alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
EST provides technical support to Members Countries in the implementation of evidence-based gender-responsive programmes, policies, strategies, and practices to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in agrifood markets, value chains and trade. This support includes gender analyses, gender-sensitive knowledge generation and dissemination, sharing best practices, multistakeholder dialogues, and capacity-development initiatives, among others. These activities contribute to FAO’s goal to ensure that promoting gender equality and eliminating gender-based discriminations are effectively pursued at all levels of FAO’s work programme and organizational culture, in compliance with the FAO Policy on Gender Equality 2020-2030.
Key messages
| Agrifood trade is an engine for sustainable and inclusive development,
leading to social and economic outcomes that are potentially conducive
to gender equality and women’s empowerment. |
| Gender inequalities create constraints to women’s access to domestic and
international agrifood markets and impact agricultural value chain
development, trade performance and economic growth. |
| By removing gender barriers to domestic and international trade, gender-responsive agricultural and trade policies foster a more gender-equitable trade environment and promote an inclusive market-led transformation of the agricultural sector. |
Highlight publications on gender
Gender publication collection
Trends in Foreign Direct Investment in Food, Beverages and Tobacco
01/01/2016
This paper analyses foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in food, beverages and tobacco, including primary agriculture and retail, from 2003 to 2014. It provides information on global, regional and - where possible - national trends in FDI flows in food, beverages and tobacco. When data are available, this study also provides more detailed insights into particular qualitative traits of FDI flows, such as whether FDI seems to be market- or resource-seeking, or in how far changes in sub-sector-sp ecific investment could be linked to changes in consumer demand. Thus it contributes to the ongoing global debate on the relevance and characteristics of FDI in developing country agriculture.
Climate Change and Food Systems
13/09/2015
This book collects the findings of a group of scientists and economists who have taken stock of climate change impacts on food and agriculture at global and regional levels over the past two decades. The evidence presented describes how global warming will impact where and how food is produced and discusses the significant consequences for food security, health and nutrition, water scarcity and climate adaptation. The book also highlights the implications for global food trade. The evidence pres ented in the book is presented in a way that is widely accessible to policy decision makers and practitioners and makes a distinct contribution towards a greater science-policy interchange. Put together, the different analyses in the book paint a comprehensive perspective linking climate change to food, nutrition, water, and trade along with suggested policy responses.