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Why women are key to better nutrition and global poverty eradication – an event organised by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) at the Perugia International Journalism Festival

On International Women’s Day, the United Nations' International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will kick off a campaign aimed at closing the gender gap in agriculture by drawing attention to the often overlooked contributions that rural women in developing countries make to rural economies, local communities and to improving the lives of rural families – men, women and children.

In many parts of the world, women are more likely to be food insecure than men. That’s despite the fact that in many countries, many women work in agriculture and are responsible for preparing food.

Through the power of a women’s farming co-operative in Rwanda, Claudine is using new techniques and seeds for better cassava harvests.

More school children are eating well because of Rekha, a business innovator in India who through a women’s cooperative is making nutrition bars with local rice.

Irma, a young Q’eqchi woman and farmer from Guatemala, is working to reforest over 400 hectares of land damaged by climate change, illegal logging and fires.

Gendo Gembela Tsire is a women’s group in Chencha district, Ethiopia who are demonstrating the process of making kocho (to make traditional flatbread) and bula (a flour blend prepared as a porridge) from the enset crop.

IFAD is piloting the use of household methodologies (HHMs) for gender equality and climate change adaptation as a way to accelerate progress towards the economic empowerment of rural women in Rwanda.

World-renowned violinist and United Nations Messenger of Peace, Midori, travelled to Viet Nam to meet with and perform for villagers in a remote and poverty-stricken community to raise awareness of the challenges faced by rural women.

Halimé Djimet is leading a collective of women in Chad to produce and market their sesame seed oil successfully.

Traditional rainfall patterns are changing in Chad, making it increasingly difficult for the poorest populations who rely on small farming for subsistence, to successfully plant and harvest their crops.

Almost half the world's agricultural workers are women, yet they own less land than men. Farmer Awa Jagne speaks about how access to land has changed her life.

Burundi's civil war may have ended more than two decades ago, but violence in the country continues. Many of its victims are women, whose rights under the law are often ignored. Now a unique legal aid programme is helping thousands of women like Maura Ntukamazina learn about the law and reclaim their rights.

In The Gambia, women often farm on degraded, unproductive land. The more fertile land is usually reserved for men. But things are changing.