The Case for Inclusive Agricultural Development Introduction

All statements of fact and expressions of opinion contained in this briefing note are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs or of the project funders. [...] As pointed out in the wake of the 1995 Beijing gender issues in 11 of the 17 SDGs.5 Women’s Conference, the source of high rates of Donors increasingly integrate gender issues in child malnutrition in South Asia—the region with their aid,6 yet estimates suggest that less than 2 the largest number of hungry people—“lies deep in percent of that aid is invested in grassroots wom- the soil of gender i. [...] by rural women is the importance of colocation of High-income countries typically devolve 25 to public services so women need not spend much 50 percent of public resources to local govern- of their day walking from the health center to the ments; in most African countries, this is only 2 to rural bank to the day care center to the borehole to 3 percent.12 Ghana pioneered the way when its the woodl. [...] influence—especially among the poor.2 The Food and Agriculture Organization of the For example, SARE, a national network of farm- United Nations (FAO), the World Bank, the US ers and scientists, supports farmer-led research on Department of Agriculture (USDA), the European soil health. [...] security and agriculture—needs to be guaranteed.1 Despite the globally agreed-upon Principles for Box 2: Student Experiences Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems and a shift toward self-reliance, African- In the words of Yvonne Nasike, a student and women-led local organizations have too often enrolled in our program: “I love science, and I been under the control of western donor.