baby and g-nuts
thinking about food
note: for once does not refer to my love of gourmet dining experiences
Today, I finally presented the results of my project on nutrition and food security that I conducted in Uganda this summer. I didn’t faint, like this other girl semi-did, so I felt pretty good about it! During the talk, I went into this weird not-thinking-just-doing mode. So who knows what happened. (Just kidding it was fine.) Ha, but actually, it was quite rewarding, and I’m glad that I did it. I’m also glad it’s over…
Malnutrition is a huge global health issue and should be more heavily prioritized. There are over 1 billion OVERnourished AND 1 billion UNDERnourished people worldwide (WHO). I realized that by doing this research study I learned a lot about the connections between malnutrition, disease, water, education, income, maternal/child health, food security, agriculture, child development, and family planning. (If I’ve learned one thing about health and development, it’s that everything is related to everything.)
solutions: women and agriculture
I’m not just saying this because I go to Barnard, I swear
Based on our findings, one intervention the we came up with was the implementation of programs involving women and agriculture to address food insecurity, mlanutrtion, and poverty. ONE wrote an interesting summary about this “hot topic” in global health:
Women are the key to food security. Women produce an estimated 60% and 80% of the food in developing countries and 50% of food globally. In Africa, upwards of 2/3 of all women are employed in the agriculture sector and produce nearly 90% of food on the continent. Women farmers are also the smallest smallholders, but are responsible for growing, selling, buying and preparing food for their families. Statistically, women are more likely than men to spend income on the well-being of their families, including more nutritious food, heath and school costs…Globally, less than 2% of land is owned by women, women receive just an estimated 1% of all agricultural credit.
Women for Women International published another short article called “The Next Green Frontier.”
We cannot build sustainable democracies, economies, or solutions for climate change and food shortages if we do not fully incorporate women in policy responses. There isn’t a better story to illustrate the disconnect between the reality of women and the theory of policy than this food crisis and the agricultural strategies that aim to address it.
Women are the developing world’s farmers. Giving women the tools on the ground and enforcing effective policy on top will empower them, alleviate the global food crisis, reduce poverty and encourage economic development, improve nutrition, and ultimately save lives.
how this saves the planet
or at least, could help?
My fellow Bay Area Slow Food Movement supporters advocate for local, small-scale farming as an environmentally friendly, sustainable type of agriculture. Promoting small-scale farming in developing nations is no different. Small farms reduce emissions from transportation, preserve local ecosystems and biodiversity, have less chemicals, reduce land degradation, etc. If women become the face of agriculture, they could also become the face of the environmental movement.
Global Health Mag just reported on how reproductive health, family planning, and child survival also play a role in combating climate change. How is that? Women who live in societies where child mortality is high often have more children — in societies where children survive more, mothers have fewer kids. When women have access to reproductive health and family planning services, and public health is good, they won’t have as many kids. This slows population growth, and thus improves our chances of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Hans Rosling, best TED talker ever, says, “CHILD SURVIVAL IS THE NEW GREEN.”
