ABSTRACT

This chapter argues that meeting the food security challenge while protecting the environment will require explicit policies to build sustainable agricultural innovation systems with a strong gender perspective to make knowledge and technology available to female farmers. A holistic, cross-sectoral approach should consider trade-offs and build on synergies between sectors to prioritize and promote technically available and economically feasible win options that ensure food security, poverty reduction, and environmental sustainability. The chapter focuses on the central role of small-scale farmers, and particularly women, in enhancing sustainable food production, followed by the obstacles faced by female farmers. The technology from the Green Revolution relied on improved seeds, heavier use of fertilizers and chemical pesticides, and intensive use of water. The chapter concludes with policy implications, calling for the building of gender-sensitive sustainable agricultural innovation systems at the national level, as well as supporting actions in the international arena.