DESPITE women's significant contributions to our agrifood systems in the Asia-Pacific region, women continue to face persistent obstacles, including limited access to resources, services, and discriminatory practices all along the food value chain. As we gather to celebrate this year's International Women's Day (IWD), it is time for action to fully recognize women's indispensable role in the fields, in the factories, and those running small and medium-sized companies, associations and cooperatives — all of which produce the nutritious food we eat each day.
But recognizing and acknowledging this is not enough. In Asia and the Pacific, there is a critical need for financial investments to achieve gender equality in agrifood systems. This would play a huge role in the region's agrifood systems transformation — now underway across the region — a transformation endorsed by 40 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) members at the recently convened FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific, in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
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