Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Thirty-third session

5-22 July 2005

Item 5 of the provisional agenda*

Implementation of article 21 of the Convention on the

Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Reports provided by specialized agencies of the United Nations on the implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the scope of their activities

Note by the Secretary-General

Addendum

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

1.On behalf of the Committee, the Secretariat invited the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), on 23 March 2005, to submit to the Committee a report on information provided by States to FAO on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in areas falling within the scope of its activities, which would supplement the information contained in the reports of the States parties to the Convention that will be considered at the thirty-third session.

2.Other information sought by the Committee refers to activities, programmes and policy decisions undertaken by FAO to promote the implementation of the Convention.

3.The report annexed hereto has been submitted in compliance with the request of the Committee.

Annex

Report of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women at its thirty-third session

Benin

1.Benin has a population estimated at 7,103,000 in 2005,1 of which 54 per cent live in rural areas. As much as 54 per cent2 of the economically active population work in agriculture.

Women in agriculture 2

2.The total share of female participation in the labour force in 2000 was 48 per cent, of which 54 per cent were working in agriculture. Of the total number of people economically active in agriculture, 49 per cent were women.

Activities of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for the empowerment of rural women and gender equality

3.The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) implemented a pilot activity that integrated gender concerns into agricultural statistical data collection. A supplementary questionnaire regarding men and women farmers to the annual agricultural survey was added. This activity provided interesting insights on the availability of gender disaggregated data. Thereafter the statistics office revised the national survey questionnaires.

4.A project, initiated through the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme, on institutional capacity-building focused on integrating gender concerns in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries programmes. As a result of that initiative, a gender unit (Cellule femme dans le développement agricole et rural) was established in the Ministry.

5.Through the Dimitra project, FAO collects detailed information on organizations and projects concerning rural women, food security and sustainable development in Africa and the Near East. By making this information available, the project aims to increase the visibility of rural women’s contribution to development, using traditional means of communication and new information technologies. The Dimitra project seeks to increase gender awareness among development actors and to promote information exchange and dissemination. There are 34 organizations in Benin listed in the Dimitra database, which are engaged in 70 projects that benefit rural women. The projects vary in scope and cover a broad set of issues ranging from capacity-building in agricultural and health issues to income-generating activities and marketing strategies.

6.Through the Telefood campaign launched in 1997, which seeks to promote increased awareness of the need and urgency to combat hunger, FAO has supported several projects in Benin that have empowered rural women. The projects focus on horticulture, vegetable and fruit production and marketing agricultural products. There are 25 Telefood projects in Benin that either directly or indirectly empower rural women.

Burkina Faso

7.Burkina Faso has a population estimated at 13,798,000 in 2005,1 of which 81 per cent live in rural areas. As much as 92 per cent2 of the economically active population work in agriculture.

Women in agriculture 2

8.The total share of female participation in the labour force in 2000 was 49 per cent, of which 93 per cent were working in agriculture. Of the total number of people economically active in agriculture, 49 per cent were women.

Activities of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for the empowerment of rural women and gender equality

9.Under the FAO socio-economic and gender analysis (SEAGA) programme, a SEAGA training of trainers was carried out with staff from the Ministry of Agriculture, to create a pool of trainers who would go on to train others, as well as assist in mainstreaming socio-economic and gender issues in the Ministry’s work.

10.FAO initiated a gender and agricultural development strategy, which acknowledged the need for institutional strengthening in the areas of socio-economic and gender analysis. A workshop on the draft gender and agricultural development strategy for Burkina Faso was conducted, which was followed by a recommendation to strengthen institutional capacity to use gender analysis.

11.Through the Dimitra project, FAO collects detailed information on organizations and projects concerning rural women, food security and sustainable development in Africa and the Near East. By making this information available, the project aims to increase the visibility of rural women’s contribution to development, using traditional means of communication and new information technologies. The Dimitra project seeks to increase gender awareness among development actors and to promote information exchange and dissemination. There are 34 organizations in Burkina Faso listed in the Dimitra database. These organizations are engaged in 96 projects that benefit rural women. The projects vary in scope and cover a broad set of issues ranging from capacity-building in agricultural production and horticulture to income-generating activities and microcredit.

12.Through the Telefood campaign launched in 1997, which seeks to promote increased awareness of the need and urgency to combat hunger, FAO has supported several projects in Burkina Faso that have empowered rural women; for example, one project helped women sell their fish. The project provided women with scales, iceboxes and other equipment that enable women to freeze fish so that they can be transported and sold at the market. Other projects focused on livestock breeding and promoting forest species nurseries. There are 21 Telefood projects in Burkina Faso that either directly or indirectly empower rural women.

Gambia

13.The Gambia has a population estimate of 1,499,000 in 2005,1 of which 74 per cent live in rural areas. As much as 79 per cent of the economically active population work in agriculture.

Women in agriculture 2

14.The total share of female participation in the labour force in 2000 was 45 per cent, of which 90 per cent were working in agriculture. Of the total number of people economically active in agriculture, 51 per cent were women.

Activities of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for the empowerment of rural women and gender equality

15.Through the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme, FAOintegrated gender concerns in the collection of data at the national level. The tools and methodology developed will be used for the next agricultural census.

16.Through the Dimitra project, FAO collects detailed information on organizations and projects concerning rural women, food security and sustainable development in Africa and the Near East. By making this information available, the project aims to increase the visibility of rural women’s contribution to development, using traditional means of communication and new information technologies. The Dimitra project seeks to increase gender awareness among development actors and to promote information exchange and dissemination. There are 25 organizations in the Gambia listed in the Dimitra database. These organizations are engaged in more than 2,500 projects that benefit rural women. The projects vary in scope and cover a broad set of issues ranging from capacity-building in agricultural and health and nutrition issues to income-generating activities, rehabilitation and marketing strategies.

17.Through the Telefood campaign launched in 1997, which seeks to promote increased awareness of the need and urgency to combat hunger, FAO has supported several projects in the Gambia that have empowered rural women. The projects focus on bee and rabbit-keeping, horticulture, vegetable and fruit production and marketing agricultural products. There are 22 Telefood projects in the Gambia that either directly or indirectly empower rural women.

Lebanon

18.Lebanon has a population estimate of 3,761,000 in 2005,1 of which 12 per cent live in rural areas. As much as 4 per cent of the economically active population work in agriculture.

Women in agriculture 2

19.The total share of female participation in the labour force in 2000 was 29 per cent, of which 5 per cent were working in agriculture. Of the total number of people economically active in agriculture, 38 per cent were women.

Activities of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for the empowerment of rural women and gender equality

20.Through the Dimitra project, FAO collects detailed information on organizations and projects concerning rural women, food security and sustainable development in Africa and the Near East. By making this information available, the project aims to increase the visibility of rural women’s contribution to development, using traditional means of communication and new information technologies. The Dimitra project seeks to increase gender awareness among development actors and to promote information exchange and dissemination. There are 25 organizations in Lebanon listed in the Dimitra database. These organizations are engaged in 52 projects that benefit rural women. The projects vary in scope and cover a broad set of issues ranging from bee-keeping, food processing, health issues, microcredit and other capacity-building initiatives.

21.Through the Telefood campaign launched in 1997, which seeks to promote increased awareness of the need and urgency to combat hunger, FAO has supported several projects in Lebanon that have empowered rural women. The projects focus on agricultural and small livestock production. There are 18 Telefood projects in Lebanon that either directly or indirectly empower rural women.

Notes

1Data provided by FAO Statistical Databases (FAOSTAT).

2Estimate for 2000, data provided by FAOSTAT.