**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 [63–65].

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'.


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

#### **Table 7.**

*Women empowerment in agriculture through access to resources.*

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**).

#### **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.
