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updated: 12 February, 2008
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Gender and rural poverty

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reflect the multiple dimensions of poverty. In establishing these goals, the development community also recognized the link between poverty and the situation of women by making the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women one of the main goals. Four indicators – relating to education, literacy, wage employment and political representation – are used to monitor progress.

Eliminating gender disparities in education is given special importance, since education is seen not only as an instrument of empowerment, but also as an indication of the value society assigns to women.

However, the relevance of women's advancement to the achievement of the MDGs goes beyond the explicit gender-related goal. Meeting the targets related to nutrition; maternal, infant and child mortality; reproductive health; and HIV/AIDS – and even those related to the sustainable management of natural resources – is directly affected by women’s roles as mothers, caregivers and natural resource managers, as well as by prevailing gender relations.

Gender inequality perpetuates and deepens poverty


Throughout the developing world, rural women engage in multiple economic activities that are critical to the survival of poor households. Rural poor women play an essential role in crop production and livestock care, and they provide the food, water and fuel their families need. This is particularly the case in some of the poorest and most marginal areas characterized by extensive and increasing male migration. In these areas, agriculture has become increasingly feminized. In 1997, in fact, almost 70 per cent of the women of working age in low-income, food-deficit countries were engaged in agricultural work. At the same time, the proportion of woman-headed households continues to grow, reaching almost one third in some developing countries.

Despite the essential economic and caregiving roles they perform, women have significantly less access to financial, physical and social assets than men do; fewer opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills; and less voice in public decision-making.

Women own less than 2 per cent of all land, and receive only 5 per cent of extension services worldwide. It is estimated that women in Africa receive less than 10 per cent of all credit going to small farmers and a mere 1 per cent of the total credit going to the agricultural sector. The most extreme manifestation of gender inequality and the disregard of women’s human rights is the fact that at least 60 million girls are ‘missing’, mostly in Asia, due to female infanticide or sex-selective abortions. Added to these are an estimated 5,000 women murdered each year in ‘honour killings’.

The HIV/AIDS crisis, which is already reversing the economic gains achieved in some developing countries, affects women disproportionately, both as individuals and in their roles as mothers and carergivers. Over the next decade, the epidemic is expected to spread even further in developing countries, with one in four women and one in five men becoming infected. The epidemic is fuelled by cultural stereotypes, according to which men are expected to dominate and women to be passive in taking decisions about relationships. The need for women to care for sick family members, coupled with cuts in social spending, limits women’s ability to engage in productive and income-earning activities that determine not only their families’ wellbeing but also their own social and economic status. Thus HIV/AIDS is driven by gender inequality, and it also entrenches gender inequalities.

Overall, the neglect of women’s needs and rights undermines the potential of entire communities to grow and develop. Poverty is therefore deeply rooted in the glaring imbalance between what women do and what they have – in terms of both assets and rights. As women’s status increases, so do the benefits to society. Studies have shown, for instance, that the major contributing factor to improved child nutrition is women’s socio-economic status, particularly their educational levels. In addition, the countries that have closed the gender gap in education the fastest have experienced the fastest economic growth. Other studies have concluded that when women farmers have direct access to knowledge and technologies, crop yields increase significantly. A World Bank review found that 74 per cent of 54 completed agricultural projects with gender-related action were rated satisfactory for overall outcome, compared with 65 per cent for the 81 projects with no gender-related action. An often-quoted study estimated that a specific project focus on gender increased agricultural productivity and output by more than 20 per cent. Data also reveal that HIV infection rates are higher where gender gaps in literacy are larger.

The Global Challenges Ahead


Although an extensive and growing body of evidence exists on the relationship between gender inequality and poverty, national governments and the development community are still insufficiently aware that redressing historical gender imbalances is an essential precondition for achieving all of the MDGs.

The Monterrey Consensus recognizes the need to “mainstream the gender perspective into development policies at all levels and in all sectors” in order “to strengthen the effectiveness of the global economic system’s support for development”.

The centrality of gender equality and women's empowerment goals is also recognized in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. The plan stresses the importance of enhancing “the role of women at all levels and in all aspects of rural development, agriculture and food security”. Similarly it recognizes that to effect needed changes, “women should be able to participate fully and equally in policy formulation and decision-making”.

The reiteration of international commitments to gender equality and to the empowerment of women contrasts sharply with the inadequate progress that has been made in reducing gender gaps.Undoubtedly, persisting gender gaps are one of the reasons that poverty-reduction targets for the year 2000 were not met. If the new targets are to be reached, efforts and resources must be significantly scaled up and better coordinated in the future. Past experience shows that doing more of the same will not be enough. Nor will economic growth be sufficient if women continue to be denied opportunities. There is in fact a mounting body of evidence pointing to the need to expand women’s rights and representation, and to bring about cultural changes in order to reap the full benefits of economic growth.

Individual countries, with the help of the development community, must trive to reach the MDGs in a context of globalization and increasing resource disparities. Globalization undoubtedly presents enormous opportunities in terms of increased access to knowledge (made possible by new information technologies) and to new markets and employment possibilities. However, it also poses special challenges for the more marginal groups. (Indeed, in an increasingly globalized world, income and
gender inequalities are reported to be growing in many countries.) The poor, and especially women, often lack the bargaining power and organizational capacity to grapple with new markets and risks. In such a highly volatile and uneven global environment, there is a need for close monitoring of the impacts of global processes on the poorest and on women in particular. Furthermore, economic and social unrest, and conflict, can lead to the restructuring of societies and the curtailing of women's freedoms. Capacity-building of poor women and men and their institutions, enabling them to advocate for their rights, will be essential in countering the risks of increased vulnerability.

Source: Women as Agents of Change, IFAD (2003).