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Friday, March 11, 2011

Women and Hunger: 10 Facts

Women have a crucial role to play in the fight against hunger. As mothers, farmers, teachers and entrepreneurs, they hold the key to building a future free of malnutrition. Here are ten reasons why empowering women is such an important part of our work. 
  1. Women make up a little over half of the world's population, but they account for over 60 percent of the worlds hungry.
    (Source:  
    Strengthening efforts to eradicate hunger..., ECOSOC, 2007)
  2. Women produce between 60 and 80 percent of the food in most developing countries where they have less access to land and credit than men do.
    (Source:  
    Women and Food Security, FAO, 2010)
  3. Women are the sole breadwinners in one out of three households around the world.
    (Source: WFP, 2010)
  4. Women in Africa work an average of 50 percent longer each day than men.
    (Source: WFP, 2010)
  5. If women had better access to farming land, fertilizers and agricultural training, yields in sub-Saharan Africa would improve by as much as 22 per cent.
    (Source: 
    Global Trends for Women, International Labor Organization, 2009)
  6. Two thirds of the 75 million children denied access to education around the world are girls. In rural Africa, about 70 percent of girls do not finish primary school.
    (Sources:
    Progress for Children: A World Fit for Children, UNICEF, 2007; UNESCO, 2006)
  7. Educated mothers have healthier families. Their children are better nourished, less likely to die in infancy and more likely to attend school.
    (Source:  
    The State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, 2005)
  8. Women invest an average 90 percent of their incomes into their households, whereas men only reinvest about 30 to 40 percent.
    (Source:  
    The State of the World’s Girls, UN Girls’ Education Initiative, 2009)
  9. Around half of all pregnant women in developing countries are anemic. Iron deficiency causes around 110,000 deaths during child birth each year.
    (Source:
    Progress for Children: A World Fit for Children, UNICEF, 2007)
  10. Malnourished mothers often give birth to underweight babies who are 20 percent more likely to die before the age of five. Up to 17 million children are born underweight every year.
    (Source: 
    Progress for Children: A World Fit for Children, UNICEF, 2007)


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