A View of Sub-Saharan Africa from the Perspective of Food Security and Gender

Abstract

Nowadays, in most households, food and nutrition affairs are delegated to women. However, in the sub-Saharan regions, like the most undeveloped countries, food security is still in danger. Such a situation is not observed in developed countries. Why so? Is women’s positive contribution to food security only reserved for developed countries? How can women in less developed countries intervene in food security? This paper analyses food security from a gender perspective and focuses on women’s participation and empowerment as means to eradicate food insecurity.

1. Introduction

Although food security is seen as a primary problem in Africa and Asia, it is essentially a problem for the whole world. However, besides food security, the issue of food safety is also in the field of interest of every country, especially in industrialized countries. The issue of ending poverty (no poverty) and hunger (zero hunger) on a global scale is among the top priorities of the UN SDGs. Unfortunately, this global problem could not be ended in the last century and is among the priority issues of the twenty-first century. Therefore, ensuring food security is a very important goal for the UN. According to the UN FAO, ‘Universal access to safe food is a key requirement for the 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals’. Despite this, an estimated 600 million people get sick each year from eating unsafe food, and 420,000 of them die [1], Safe food is also critical for economic development and the international food trade. It should also be noted that, unfortunately, due to the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will not be possible for the UN to achieve its goals in this area until 2030 [2].

In our patriarchal society, roles and perceptions are categorized at a very early age according to gender. Therefore, throughout life, responsibilities will be assigned, preferably according to sex [3]. But with economic progress, society is becoming more liberal. Additionally, more voices are challenging the pre-existing gender perception by calling for gender equality. This demand is reflected in the fifth goal of the seventeenth sustainable development goal (SDG5) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly: Achieve gender equality through the empowerment of women and girls [4]. Thus, it is encouraged to highlight the potential of women and girls and to give them greater exposure.

More visibility, indeed, in a society that has always tended to stifle and control the female gender in almost everything. In such a society, until now, it has often been observed that for the same qualifications as men, women are paid less. In Germany, for example, the first power in the European Union, 21.5% of women are paid less than men [5]. The primordial roles that our so-called modern civilizations offer and accept for women without amalgamation are those related to the housewife position; in other words, the role of the housewife. As it is stated by Eurostat, the percentage of women engaged in domestic chores is 97.3% in Finland; even in Belgium, the capital of the European Union, 95.6% of women handle the home’s well-being [6]. Overall, the share of women who take care of children, housework and cooking is much higher than that of men. In 2016, the number of women aged 25–49 (with children under 18) who cared for their children every day stood at 93% in the EU, compared with 69% of men. In addition, 78% of women cooked or (and) did daily household chores, compared with 32% of men [7]. However, women’s involvement in household welfare is unavoidable. Moreover, any situation that disrupts women’s conditions may impact food security within the household.

Even though agriculture accounts for three-quarters of women’s income in sub-Saharan Africa [8], and women make up a significant portion of the agricultural labour force [9], the region is experiencing an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity. In such a situation, would it not be helpful if chefs in the households had detailed nutritional knowledge? Should more attention not be paid to the training and education of the female gender to achieve sustainable development goals, especially in reducing hunger and promoting food security? This study aims to explain and find the means of combating the scourge of malnutrition and hunger in sub-Saharan Africa.

2. Definition of sustainable food security

To examine the role of women’s actions in the battle against food insecurity, it is important to have an explanation of what this concept conveys. For this reason, considering the wording of [10], food security

• Corresponds to the ability of all people to have physical and economic access to basic food needs at all times [11]. Furthermore, a national food security strategy cannot be envisaged without ensuring food security at the household level [12].

• Is the capacity to ensure that the food system provides the entire population with a nutritionally adequate food supply over the long term [13].

• Is ensured when the viability of the household defined as a unit of production and reproduction is not threatened by a food deficit [14].

Furthermore, when considering the statement of the World Food Summit (1996) about the concept as it is given, ‘when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life’, the need for sufficient availability of nutrient-rich foods seems to define food security. Hence, in FAO’s logic, clearly, 03 elaborated conditions must exist to define food security. These are

• food availability: sufficient quantities of food available consistently;

• food access: sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet; and

• food use: appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate water and sanitation.

Thus, as seen above, food security is any system that provides the consuming entity with enough food to meet nutritional needs. When this system can be long-term [13], the concept of sustainability has its legitimacy. Thus, in sustainable food security, reference is made to any system that can provide the consumer necessary quantity and quality of goods over time. Quality refers to the nutritional value of the food. As for the notion of time, it refers to future generations. However, it is essential to point out that there is no exact definition of the ‘food security’ concept because quality requirements are progressive over time.

After examining what is hidden behind the ‘food security’ concept, the positioning of the present work is to clarify how women can provide support in the three pillars that define food security as defined by the FAO. The present work also investigates if women’s support can contribute to the achievement of food security objectives. To do so, the light will first be shed on the skills of women in different sectors of activity.

3. Definition of sustainable food safety

Food and nutrition literacy is a newly emerged concept to connect food-related knowledge and skills to healthy diets [15]. Nutrition literacy is the combination of access to, analysis and evaluation of the information related to food and nutrition, making and implementing good decisions, maintaining healthy eating, choosing and consuming a proper amount of healthy food, and the motivation, knowledge, skill, attitude, behaviour and abilities required for the evaluation of the motivation needed to ensure food security and the working of the food system. The recognition and dissemination of food and nutrition literacy in society will aid in the improvement of well-being, healthy nutrition maintenance and healthy food selection [16]. It would be useful if all stakeholders were to cooperate in the planning and implementation of food literacy initiatives where effective, theory-based training methods focusing on knowledge, skills and behaviour are used.

Activities that involve conscious behavioural change such as education and extension, as well as practices that increase food education and training, can enhance diet quality by reducing food insecurity [17, 18]. Of course, here along with limited food literacy, access to food and the ability to prepare healthy foods are also important. According to this, all stakeholders should work in cooperation for food and nutrition literacy.

In this context, it is important to establish an effective food control system. Because an effective food control system provides assurances to governments and the public that the available food is safe for human consumption and can be sold or traded. It, therefore, aims to [19].

(1) protect public health by reducing FDB risks; (2) protect consumers from fraudulent practices including mislabelling and adulteration; and (3) support economic development by ensuring the quality and safety of products sold and or traded [20]. Components of a national food control system include an enabling legislative framework, a food control management system, food inspection, laboratories for monitoring hazards and surveillance, information, education, communication and training of value chain operators and consumers.

These data and determinations show that there is a need for a comprehensive food safety policy on a national and global scale in any case. In many African countries, the food safety mandate is spread over many agencies and authorities, with unclear responsibilities leading to inaction and duplication. In most cases, countries lack effective national coordination mechanisms [19].

4. Gender definition

Gender empirically encompasses both males and females. From a cultural and discursive perspective [21], gender ideology refers to the beliefs and values held concerning what is right for men and women and determines the patterns by which a particular society judges or evaluates the appropriate conduct of a man or woman. The following lines illustrate gender concepts for a better understanding [22, 23].

• Gender analysis is the systematic gathering of data and information about gender relations to identify, understand and correct inequalities.

• Gender discrimination is the unwelcome treatment of people due to their gender, which denies them the opportunities, rights and resources they deserve.

• Gender division of labour, how specific ideas based on socially determined roles define what is appropriate for women and men.

• Gender equality and equity, Gender equality involves a woman being treated the same as a man in terms of accessing public life. Gender equity denotes equalization of life outcomes between men and women, recognizing their diversity in interests and needs, and requires redistribution of power and resources.

• Gender mainstreaming, is an organizational strategy designed to bring gender equity to all aspects of an organization’s work, through building capacity and accountability.

• Gender needs, are shared and prioritized needs identified by women that arise from their common experiences as a gender.

• Gender planning, the technical and political processes and procedures necessary to implement gender-sensitive policy.

• Gender relations, hierarchical relations of power between women and men that tend to disadvantage women.

• Gender training, a facilitated process of developing awareness and capacity on the issue of gender, to bring about personal or organizational change towards full equality.

• Gender violence, is any act or threat by male-dominated institutions that inflicts physical, sexual or psychological harm on women or girls.

The paper considers gender in an original binary logic (masculine/feminine) to finally focus exclusively on the female gender. It inspects the contribution of the female gender to different sectors to identify its potentialities that can be beneficial in the fight for food security.

5. Women’s role in the households and society

Gender relation underlies the hierarchical aspect existing between both genders in the family. And without a doubt, these relations are widely considered to be dominated by men within households. Furthermore, few women have the responsibility of being heads of families. But when they do have such responsibility, it is usually the synonym of being single, divorced, separated mothers, widows or when the husband is completely disabled or has a serious illness issue that makes him infirm. Therefore, this is the position that, despite being assimilated into cultural posturing, the female gender consistently finds itself in, according to studies. However, others studies have demonstrated that despite their vulnerability, women are excellent household leaders. It has been shown that households headed by women manage better deprivation [24]. Namely, they make a better distribution or allocation of the scarce resources at their disposal. Besides, the distribution of time allocated to household chores is generally in conflict with the status of non-household workers. This means that often in the family, there is a dilemma for women to just do childcare, housework or go for a job outside the home. Thus, in the presence of the man, the woman is much more willing to engage in housekeeping. Then, about the hierarchical paradigm of societal assignment of tasks, the predominant cultural mentality forces them to stay at home.

Socially, roles generally assigned as females are almost less valued than those designated as males. Women are expected to fulfil the reproductive role of carrying and raising children, caring for other family members and household management tasks, as well as home production. Men, on the other hand, tend to be much more associated with productive roles, specifically paid work, and commodity production. In the labour market, although the overall engagement rate of women is growing, they tend to be restrained in a relatively narrow range of occupations or clustered at lower levels than men and generally earn less [25].

Despite some wives making a greater contribution to household income than men, society does not recognize women’s equal participation in household management. Their wealth is not a sufficient justification to not take on domestic tasks. Even if these things happen, it is not well perceived. Further, as far as discrimination and domestic violence are concerned, the female gender is the most vulnerable. Likewise, poverty is common among rural housewives because they depend on their husbands to provide them with economic help [26, 27, 28].

In order to best describe the contemporary place of women in society, it has been important to understand where women are and how they’re doing in that society. Therefore, to achieve a sustainable, update gender-based social solution for a problem, prior women’s roles in the family circle and the community must be recognized.

6. Food security in sub-Saharan Africa

If agriculture crop production had met 80% of the continent’s food requirements in 2013, whereas animal production was not growing quickly enough to meet the demand [29], the situation has recently deteriorated due to the pandemic in the years 2019–2020. In fact, by 2020, 281.6 million Africans had been malnourished, up 89.1 million from 2014. East Africa accounts for 44.4% of the continent’s undernourished people, while West Africa accounts for 26.7%, Central Africa accounts for 20.3%, North Africa accounts for 6.2% and Southern Africa accounts for 2.4%. Along with the 346.4 million Africans who are food insecure severely, another 452 million are food insecure moderately [30]. Global standards for food security are far from being met. Food security scores in sub-Saharan Africa are designed to accurately reflect this situation (Table 1).

Country	2020 Score	Rank / 113
South Africa	57.8	69
Botswana	55.5	74
Ghana	53.0	77
Mali	52.7	79
Côte d’Ivoire	51.0	82
Kenya	49.0	86
Niger	47.6	87
Burkina Faso	47.4	88
Tanzania	47.1	89
Senegal	46.4	=90
Benin	46.2	92
Togo	44.9	93
Cameroon	44.7	94
Uganda	42.9	95
Angola	42.1	97
Congo (Dem. Rep.)	40.7	98
Mozambique	40.6	99
Nigeria	40.1	100
Guinea	39.5	102
Chad	39.4	103
Rwanda	38.8	104
Madagascar	37.5	106
Burundi	37.1	107
Ethiopia	37.0	108
Sierra Leone	37.0	108
Malawi	36.7	110
Zambia	36.6	111
Sudan	36.0	112

Table 1.

Food security index of selected sub-Saharan African countries.

Source: Computed by the author and retrieved from FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2020. To be representative of sub-Saharan African states in terms of food insecurity prevalence, this table includes a sample of countries from each of sub-Saharan Africa’s four sub-regions: the western, eastern, central and southern regions.

The tables below illustrate African food security, under-malnourished people (Table 2) and the food production stat (Table 3).

009–2011 2014–2016 2016–2018	2000–2002	2004–2006	2009–2011	2014–2016	2016–2018	2017–2019	2018–2020
WORLD	819.2	804.0	652.3	613.8	622.7	632.9	683.9
Africa	199.8	198.4	194.8	201.4	217.1	224.9	248.0
Central Africa	39.7	41.2	40.1	44.4	47.8	49.7	53.2
Eastern Africa	102.3	101.0	99.9	97.5	104.8	107.7	115.3
Northern Africa	15.0	15.5	15.0	13.6	14.8	15.2	16.0
Southern Africa	2.9	2.8	3.6	4.7	4.9	4.9	5.6
Western Africa	39.9	37.9	36.2	41.2	44.9	47.4	57.8

Table 2.

Number of undernourished people (millions).

Source: FAO, retrieved from FAO, CEA, and CUA, 2021. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb7496fr. Undernourishment is defined as the condition of an individual whose usual food intake is insufficient to provide, on average, the amount of dietary energy required for a normal, active and healthy life. The relative indicator is called ‘prevalence of undernourishment’, which is an estimate of the percentage of individuals in the total population who are undernourished. Source: FAOSTAT.

African sub-region	Food production (livestock and crop) (%)
Northern	23
West	33
East	23
Central	7
Southern	17
Africa (US billions $)	196

Table 3.

Food production in Africa.

Source: Self-computation from NEPAD, African agriculture, 2013.

Food production in sub-Saharan in late 1980 was estimated to be $876 billion, but in 2010, the estimation was $196 billion (Table 3). Besides this growth, food security is still a challenge. According to [2], it is estimated that 75% of low-income children in Sub-Saharan Africa are malnourished; only 25% are not low-income food deficient. Furthermore, this condition is exacerbated by climate change, civil unrest, armed conflicts [31] and the current widespread pandemics, which make the poorest populations even more vulnerable. Consequently, malnutrition statistics in the continent are among the highest in the world. Additionally, the food insecurity situation in sub-Saharan Africa today could be illustrated by the state of malnutrition and newborns’ weight and height. These indicators reflect whether mothers fed themselves well during pregnancy to ensure their good health and that of their infants. In other words, statistics on malnutrition reflect regardless of whether a country is safe from food insecurity, reiterating that the birth weight of a newborn is an important indicator of maternal and foetal health and nutrition (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Low birth weight prevalence, by country and region, 2015. Source: UNICEF-WHO low birth weight estimates, 2019.

7. Food accessibility in sub-Saharan Africa

In rural areas, people have less access to safe food than people in urban areas. It is the rural counties that supply the urban cities with food. Perhaps rural people do not have enough cash to afford sufficient nutritious meals. Or, due to lack of resources, they are unable to buy the required food supplements. As noticed by [32], even in abundant regions, food shortages can happen, mostly due to poor conservation techniques or post-harvest losses. In fact, at the sub-regional level, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is the region with the highest prevalence of hunger with one person in four being undernourished [33]. Additionally, owing to SSA’s population growth, the demand for food will still rise, and persist, thereby leading to the push for stronger interventions to boost food security and nutrition, as well as to end hunger. Agriculture should become a priority as it accounts for approximately 30% of African economies and comprises over 60% of the workforce in these nations [34, 35].

The above table illustrates food accessibility in some African countries (Table 4).

Country	Urban area (%)	Rural area (%)	Year
Benin	88	66	2003
Burkina Faso	93	51	2003
Cameroon	93	58	2007
Côte d’Ivoire	92	51	2002
Ghana	100	74	2006
Guinea	95	49	2007
Mali	97	56	2006
Mauritania	100	88	2004
Niger	99	50	2007
Nigeria	82	64	2003
Senegal	100	87	2005
Sierra Leone	99	58	2003
Chad	98	58	2003
Togo	100	72	2006

Table 4.

Food accessibility in the selected African regions.

Source: CIRAD, Afrisat, AFD AGRA, 2020 https://agra.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/AASR-2020-Feeding-African-Cities.pdf.

8. Female gender and food security in sub-Saharan

8.1 Women and crop production

Smallholder farmers produce 80% of agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa [36, 37]. In subsistence farming, as practised in Africa, women are the primary sources of food production and little from men is necessary [37, 38, 39, 40, 41]. Sub-Saharan African women have the highest average agricultural labour force participation rate in the world, at 62.5% in 2012, compared with 36.4% globally. In Ghana, for instance, women produce 70% of the country’s food crops, offer 52% of the agricultural labour force, provide 85% of the labour for agro-processing operations and 86% for food supply. Women made up 43.8% of the economically active population in sub-Saharan Africa as a whole in 2010, and 65% of those women worked in agriculture, with women delivering 70% of farm labour in Kenya [9, 42]. The importance of female agricultural workers in the world is unparalleled, even though life for rural women is not easy. Women do not have the same rights as men and must often balance domestic duties with agricultural work, such as sowing, weeding, harvesting and collecting firewood and water. Additionally, it can be more difficult for women to produce as much as men do in the farm setting, due to poor access to land, agricultural extension services and technologies.

8.2 Women and livestock farming in SSA

In less developing countries such as SSA, women generally can rear small animal husbandry (poultry, sheep, etc.), but men take care of the big head. As relayed by [43, 44], women are seen as key stakeholders in backyard poultry farming systems, and successful engagement in this sector requires gender-appropriate methods. Research has proven that women’s poultry farming initiatives are more likely to lead to successful nutritional outcomes [33, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50]. In fact, the Food and Agriculture Organization enhances that increasing the productive resources available to women would reduce the number of hungry people in the world by about 12–17% [51]. Furthermore, it is undeniable that women play a fundamental role in food and nutrition protection at all food chain stages [52].

8.3 Women and food transformation in SSA

African women’s involvement in every stage of the food system is crucial [53]. In SSA, most of the food processing infrastructures are traditional and women once again are the key point of such a system of food processing. They are present from production, to distribution and nutrition. In fact, based on traditional knowledge, rural women process food and pass this knowledge to the next generation through their daughters. It is rare to have a modern infrastructure for food processing in urban or rural areas. Most modern processed foods are imported. And for the rare locally modern processed food, the price is high for the local market; as result, a large number of citizens cannot afford it. Therefore, it opts for foreign markets. In such decor, the only possibility which remains for these regions is to empower local actors like women with knowledge to create healthy and wholesome foods. So, then they could supply the market with the appropriate dishes fitting their social reality [52, 53].

As noticed, previously and with the current food insecurity situation in the underdeveloped world and peculiarly in SSA, empowering women is still the most suitable way for a rapid effective sustainable food security promotion.

9. Comparing food security in two countries: Benin and Turkiye

Benin is a country in sub-Saharan Africa that has regional recognition for its culture, democracy and prowess in cotton production [54]. But a lot remains to be done when it comes to food security (accessibility, affordability, quality, and safety). Attempts have been made at the national level in recent years. In particular, the multiplication of school canteens in schools to enable all pupils to have a decent and full meal throughout the country, but there is still a great deal to be done. According to the latest 2020 report on the global food security situation, the Global Food Security Index Ranking, the country has recently been in a moderate position [55]. Since 2019, the country’s global food security situation in 2020 had slightly increased by 0.1 points compared with 2019, but its place in the ranking remains unchanged (as the values in the table illustrate). On the other hand, relative to Benin, Turkiye, a country ranked 54th in the most recent HDI 2020 study (Benin 158), suffered a 0.7 decline in overall food security. Despite this downturn, the nation is well ahead of Benin and other underdeveloped countries. Moreover, at the global level, the country’s food security skills are above average (the global average score is 60.4) (Figure 2 and Table 5).

Figure 2.

Comparing food security in two countries: Benin and Turkiye. Source: GFSI (2020) computation from https://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com.

Series	Benin				Turkiye				Average Score(All Countries)
	Score	D	Rank	D	Score	D	Rank	D
Overall food security environment	46.2	0.1	92	—	65.3	−0.7	47	—	60.4
Affordability	44.2	0	91	−1	66.0	−4.6	65	−4	65.9
Availability	54.8	0.2	68	+2	67.2	0.2	24	1	57.3
Quality and safety	48.3	−0.1	92	−1	78.3	3.6	43	5	67.6
Natural resources and resilience	32.2	0.4	113	—	47.4	0.1	-53	5	49.1

Table 5.

Comparing food security in two countries: Benin and Turkiye.

Source: GFSI (2020) computation from https://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com.

This fantastic above-average performance was achieved through several initiatives in the food sector, particularly targeted towards women. Additionally, the initial programme was focused on education. Similarly, data from the World Bank show that 93% of Turkish women are literate, as compared with the world average of 82.65%, while in Benin only 31% of women have this level of literacy (see Table 6 below). In general, the growth of literacy for Turkish women has been 1.16% per year [56]. Similarly, the school enrolment for women is reportedly at 99.61% [57].

Selected countries	Most recent year	Most recent value
World	2019	83
Turkiye	2017	93
Benin	2018	31
Burkina Faso	2018	33
Burundi	2017	61
Central African Rep	2018	26
Ghana	2018	74
Kenya	2018	78
Niger	2018	27
Somalia	1972	4
Côte D’Ivoire	2018	40
Sierra Leon	2018	35
Chad	2016	14
Togo	2015	51

Table 6.

Literacy rate, adult female (percent of females ages 15 and above).

Source: World Bank Group. Available from: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.FE.ZS?locations=TR-BJ-1W-KE-GH-BF-SO-DJ-BI-NE-CF.

Moreover, as [58] points out on the issue of food security, he revealed that special attention has been paid to the matter. Thus, sectoral policy reforms in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs have resulted. Therefore, these reforms have given a substantial boost to the public extension services in agriculture. Indeed, there have been many agricultural initiative programmes implemented in Turkiye, as well as programmes spearheaded by the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and associated institutions that aim to allow (especially for) women entrepreneurs to enter into agricultural activities [59]. Most importantly, these initiatives involve:

1. Supporting Female Entrepreneurship in farming Programmes Project for 18–40-year-year-old women entrepreneurs in the Agriculture sector.

2. Young in Agriculture Entrepreneurial Women Empowerment Project area for young women aged 18–40 years).

3. Young Farmers Project, which is given to women and men on equal terms.

4. ‘Agricultural Extension Project for Women Farmers’, which was initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2000 and has increased in intensity since 2015.

However, in less developed countries such as Benin, vocational training programmes can hardly help women who work in agriculture. The interests and welfare of the household take precedence over other responsibilities when a woman has a major decision-making role. This should indicate in underdeveloped countries that every well-educated woman has the power to prevent hunger. Therefore, in those countries, more women should be encouraged to start businesses (in agriculture-related fields too) in urban and rural areas where malnutrition (particularly) is prevalent.

10. Female gender empowerment in nutrition and food security

In most households, men handle finances while women take care of young children, food and nutrition. That’s why without their effective implication, food security and the achievement of sustainable development goals will be jeopardized. Also, in undeveloped countries where food security is threatened, the participation of rural women in agriculture is considered necessary for its sustainability. For this reason, women must have maximum control over the production cycle of staple goods, food processing and importation and food storage. As the increase in the above-mentioned aspect, the availability of food will also increase. Furthermore, since food availability is one of the first pillars of food security [10], women’s empowerment in food availability must be effective by:

10.1 Training them on agricultural production techniques

In rural areas, women’s participation in production activities is not yet proven [60]. However, even if it does exist, it is relegated to the background because women generally do not have equal access to production resources as men do. This observed inequality makes the economic situation of women in non-urban areas very vulnerable. Speaking of the vulnerability of rural women, [61] points out that in the majority of least developed countries, rural women are not only poor, but this unfair treatment is very detrimental to women. Women’s participation, even if it is not at the forefront, is either helping or growing staple foods on the land for the family’s needs. Rarely do women produce cash crops.

To this end, to facilitate food availability for food self-sufficiency, the existing production system can be adjusted in ways that women might be more efficient in staple crops’ production. In rural areas produced staple crops are almost the only ones feeding the household. In this regard, it would be through the awareness programmes and production policies of the states affected by the scourge of food insecurity. At present, many of the countries concerned are the least developed, i.e. about 12% of the countries in the world [62]. In this process, the empowerment of women in producer groups or cooperatives is more than vital. This empowerment itself will be achieved through:

*Easy access to production resources: Production resources are capital, labour, land and managerial capacity. At first glance, women’s conditions of access to land resources should be reviewed without discrimination. This means that they can freely exploit the land as they see fit. They would produce differently, increase agricultural productivity and respond more effectively to household needs. Needs sometimes in developing countries are different from the needs of the market. In these countries, the majority of cash crop (cotton, coffee, cocoa, etc.) production is for export [29]. If given the necessary tools, women who involve highly in the household may be able to strike a balance between cash crops and subsistence nutrient food production.

The second approach is to support them through targeted financing mechanisms to take up more profitable and productive production initiatives. This aspect should not be neglected. In the production process, inputs have a cost, as does production as a whole. In addition, access to the fund will enable women to empower themselves with skilled labour and enhance the value of women’s labour in the different sectors in which they are involved. When women have a source of income, they have a positive impact on the household situation. They invest their funds in the household and the children. Finally, for women and groups of women producers, regular training to raise the level of women heads of agricultural production enterprises must be repeated. This will make it possible to maintain dynamic production. This may require the involvement of agricultural advisers and agricultural policies [63, 64, 65].

It is important to remember that increasing agricultural production alone is not enough to reduce food insecurity [51, 66, 67]. As proof of this, most of the countries where the disease is rife are those where nearly 70% of the active population is in agriculture. Therefore, initiatives must be taken, and habits must be introduced to ensure that production meets the need for food security because the situation persists.

Encouragement and support for women who are already heads of agricultural enterprises. Awareness raising of the need and necessity to produce according to nutritional needs. This necessarily involves education to this end. Again, academicians, non-governmental agencies, farmers’ organizations, agricultural advisers and agriculture ministries, all have a part to play. These institutions need to support women by educating them in the use of technologies that can advance their businesses. Balakrishnan and Fairbairn-Dunlop [68] states that: ‘Training should build the capacity of rural women according to their multi-segment production tasks, and new information and communication technologies should be harnessed to improve rural women’s access to technical information and public sector support services. The existing models of Farmer-field-school and farmer-to-farmer learning approaches may have ignored gender biases that prevent women from taking advantage of such technology transfer approaches’.

In school curricula too, gardening programmes, learning, educating schoolchildren on good nutrient practices can be introduced. In this way, a more aware generation will be able to take up the challenge of food security because no change is possible if youth are not involved. The hope of tomorrow is the youth. Regardless of the sector, a youth who masters the stakes will know how to take up the challenge (Table 7).

Resources	The gender gap	Closing the gap
Land	Women make up 10 to 20% of landowners across the world, but this varies by country, and even in the same region. However, female minority landowners are primarily located in Africa.	To ensure equitable access to land and other agricultural assets, reform is required. A process must be put in place to hold officials and community leaders accountable for upholding the law. It aims to empower women in several ways including awareness and the ability to claim their rights.
Labour Markets	Farms run by female-headed households are likely to be smaller and have fewer members working on the farm. Women have heavy household tasks and are therefore more likely to take time away from productive activities.	Women’s participation in and access to rural labour markets requires freeing women’s time through labour saving technologies and the provision of public services.; It also entails raising women’s human capital through education, eliminating discriminatory employment practices, and capitalizing on public work programmes.
Financial Services	The ability to access credit and insurance is necessary to accumulate assets.; Smallholders often have less access to financial services, but due to the types of assets they hold, women do not have the same access as men.	Closing the gender gap in financial services involves legal and institutional reforms that will meet the needs and constraints of women, as well as efforts to enhance their financial capacity.; Innovative delivery channels and social media can reduce the cost of financial services that were previously unavailable to rural women.
Education	While there have been improvements in gender parity at the national level, women and girls continue to lag in most societies. The gender gap in education is greatest in rural areas, where female household heads sometimes do not have as much education as male household heads.	Organizations and other forms of collective action can be a useful measure of building relations and networks and addressing gender gaps in other areas of life. Groups of female leaders can positively impact social change by helping eliminate gender inequality.
Technology	Women utilize less purchased inputs, and materials and implement less technology than men. In many countries, women use fewer fertilizers than men. One of the main reasons for the status quo is a lack of available credit.	Improving women’s access to agricultural technologies can be facilitated through participatory gender-inclusive research and technology development programmes, the provision of gender-sensitive extension services

Table 7.

Women empowerment in agriculture through access to resources.

Sources Training Guide – Gender and Climate Change Research in Agriculture and Food Security for Rural Development [51, 69].

10.2 Training and awareness raising on good nutrition practices

It is essential to be knowledgeable about the good and bad eating habits. The healthiest foods provide the best nutrients [70]. Since food is needed for the body to function properly, people must eat the right types of food. Therefore, public awareness [71] campaigns can successfully guide diet recommendations when they are supported by national policy and women’s organizations in remote areas. If adequate resources are available and policies are implemented with the participation of NGOs and professional extension agents, rural areas would greatly benefit from the use of such an approach.

Once consumers understand basic food composition, they can acquire the specific food ingredients they want through a variety of channels.

10.3 Accessibility to food

Increasing the purchasing power of the population and of women, in particular, will not only lead to a better life but will also enable households to fill the basket qualitatively so that food security objectives can be achieved. When women’s economic level is improved, they will be able to easily obtain the food and ingredients needed for consumption. Because of this, a policy of ‘affirmative action’ is very important to help women get jobs they could not get.

The other aspect that is important to remember is the multiplication of infrastructures. Infrastructures facilitate access to food wherever it is found. For example, rail, ships, road networks, etc. can be used to provide access to food. If it is in the South that there is easy access to this type of production, citizens in the interior should have no difficulty in obtaining it. Women traders will easily be able to act as intermediaries in the transport of the goods concerned. According to [72], infrastructure must be implemented immediately to make landlocked areas accessible.

10.4 Food utilization

Women must be able to process and offer new foods that meet quality and hygiene standards in such a way as to meet the nutritional expectations of consumers. These expectations are sometimes influenced by social and religious norms in each geographical area. The use of food in the context of food safety must not only be integrated into the social realities of the people, but in terms of composition, it must meet energy, mineral, vitamin and nutritional needs.

When the ingredients are available, the purchasing power is there too, and when the right foods are lacking, there will be no change. So, to ensure food security, the whole system must work together.

11. Conclusion

This study helped to clarify the expectations regarding food security. In addition, to ensure food security, it was necessary to assess the role and conditions of women in their daily lives. Thus, in food security, Africa requires women at every stage of food production. Therefore, the paper advises an improvement through education, awareness raising, access to land, financial services and access to technology, not only for food security but also for women’s conditions. Most peculiarly, the report recommends that if women had the same access to resources as men, it would benefit the household’s food self-sufficiency.