Gender: A Key Dimension Linking Agricultural Programs to Improved Nutrition and Health

Improving the livelihoods and well-being of the rural poor is an important aim of agricultural development. But improved agricultural productivity does not necessarily translate into improved health and nutrition, either for producers or consumers. How can standard agricultural development strategies—promoting agricultural intensification, greater linkages to markets, and high-value production—also create positive impacts on health and nutrition? This chapter argues that a key element linking these programs to improved outcomes is the dimension of gender roles and gender equity. A large body of evidence shows that, in many parts of the world, men and women spend money differently: women are more likely to spend the income they control on food, healthcare, and education of their children. Increasing household income does not necessarily improve the nutritional and health status of women and children when that income is controlled by men. Women’s relative bargaining power within the household is likely to influence whether gains in income translate into nutritional improvements. Empirical evidence shows that increasing women’s control over land, physical assets, and financial assets serves to raise agricultural productivity, improve child health and nutrition, and increase expenditures on education, contributing to overall poverty reduction (World Bank 2001; Quisumbing 2003). Arimond and colleagues have identified five pathways through which agricultural interventions can affect nutrition: increased food for own consumption; increased income; reductions in market prices; shifts in preferences; and shifts in control of resources within households (2010). They highlight the substantial influence of gender roles across all five pathways, particularly in relation to increased food availability and increased income. A key gender-related factor that affects