ACTION TRACK 4 : LIVELIHOODS AND EQUALITY

Background

Discriminatory social norms, practices and roles shape the gendered distribution of paid and unpaid work; limit women’s access to productive resources (such as land) and markets; underpin unequal bargaining positions and the gendered division of labor within households that results both in time poverty and malnutrition for women and; marginalize women from decision-making spheres at all levels. Women and girls are just one of several groups whose livelihoods are impacted by inequity in food systems. Youth and indigenous peoples also face significant socially constructed and structural barriers. Intersectional vulnerability, which recognizes that individuals or communities often face compound discrimination based on multiple and intersecting identity factors, (such as ethnicity, gender, age, physical ability) is a challenge that requires more research and better practical and policy responses.

The denial of rights and entitlements, through formal and informal institutions and laws, is central to the problem of inequity in livelihoods within food systems. The widespread and systematic institutional discrimination and bias against marginalized groups in access to assets, services and information, can thus be attributed to the related challenges of harmful socio-cultural norms and practices, inadequate policy and poor governance, and rights denial. Unfair terms of trade, capacity deficits and inadequate financing for pro-poor development are wider challenges. The amplifying threat of Covid-19 and its differential impact on women and marginal groups, from a food security and nutrition perspective, is exacerbating an already alarming situation.

To support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Action Track 4 will seek to ensure that food systems ‘Leave No One Behind’ by addressing inequality as one of the root causes of poverty in all its forms: inequality in access to economic opportunities, gender inequality and inequality in access to productive resources and services that restrict the advancement of equitable livelihoods.