Lora Forsythe and Fiorella Picchioni, members of NRI’s Gender and Social Difference Research Group (GSD), recently contributed to the ‘Accelerating feminist pathways in agrifood systems’ workshop organised by the Rural Transformation and Gender Equality (ESP) division of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The workshop was organised against the backdrop of “The status of women in agrifood systems” (SWAFS) report, published in 2023, which examines the advances made – in research and practice – on gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) in agrifood systems in the last decade. While the report shows the key contribution of women in all aspects and sectors of agrifood systems, it also highlights the lack of progress in women's rights and access to vital resources over the past decade. Additionally, it emphasises how discriminatory social norms and rules affecting women and girls are at the heart of gender inequality and how these are slow to change.

By bringing together gender experts, feminist academics, researchers, development practitioners and representatives of grassroots organisations from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, the workshop aimed to critically reflect on feminist pathways for inclusive and socially just agrifood systems transformation. The workshop also aimed to understand the role that FAO and others can play in implementing feminist approaches.

Within the workshop were six thematic panels followed by a public event on the contribution of feminist policies and approaches to gender equality in agrifood systems. 

Lora contributed to the panel “Power relations, agency and social norms,” with Naila Kabeer, London School of Economics, and Teresa Maisano, FIAN International. Lora spoke about the role of gender-based violence in agrifood systems, which has often been left out of agrifood system conversations, and described positive practices for how violence can be addressed. Lora also highlighted the diversity of impactful programmes from household to regional levels, which provide important lessons for the agrifood system sector.

Fiorella contributed to the roundtable on ‘Female labour market participation in agrifood systems,’ where she expanded on how the invisibility of social reproductive labour perpetuates gender inequality in agrifood systems. Utilising a social reproductive approach, her intervention reflected on how gender and its intersection with inequalities based on race, class, sexuality and physical ability, among others, is central to the organisation and functioning of the capitalist mode of production, including that of global agrifood systems.

Fiorella also moderated the conversation between Rosalba Icaza Garza (ISS) and Agnes Quisumbing (IFRPI) on ‘Research methods and data’, which aimed to present a wide range of practices in conducting feminist research in agrifood systems. The discussion reflected on (creative) tensions and convergences, and discussed the open and evolving nature of methods in feminist agrifood research.

Other thematic panels focused on gender implications of climate shocks and stressors, accelerating GEWE through technologies and services, land and natural resources.

The two days of discussion were both challenging and inspiring. While differences among feminist approaches were openly discussed, there was a shared commitment to working together to address patriarchy, neocolonialism and all forms of injustice in the contexts where we live and work.