Figure 2 Women’s Roles and Challenges, and Illustrative Actions to Improve Nutritional Outcomes
Margaret W. Nea
Household
Illustrative Gender-Sensitive Solutions
Socioeconomic status, traditions, and
cultural norms lower a woman’s status28
within her household, weakening the
nutritional status of women and their young
children. Women are responsible for the
production and preparation of food in most
homes. A mother’s limited decision-making
ability affects nutritional outcomes since
it reduces her ability to provide care and
nutrition for her children.
• Increase household production of, access to,
and utilization of a variety of nutrient-dense
foods29—while ensuring fair distribution
within the family.
Gender disparity in communities is a key
cause of maternal malnutrition. Differences
in access to resources—whether natural,
physical, human, financial, social, or
polit ical capital30,31,32, 33, 34, 35—contribute
significantly to maternal undernutrition.
Lower social status means a sharply
reduced ability to obtain nutritious food and
nutritional supplements such as iron and
folic acid.
• To help ease malnutrition, increase women’s
access to resources, such as land, land
rights,36 livestock, labor, education, extension
and financial services, and technology.
Jim Stipe
Community
Challenges
facilitating the linkages between agriculture and health/
nutrition, the new program seeks to empower women as
income earners, food producers, and informed mothers.
The program will provide agricultural lending, specifically
to women, in 200 villages throughout Mali. About 7,500
women are expected to benefit. At the end of the initiative
in 2014, Save the Children plans to formulate best practices
in agricultural financing for women so that it can expand its
women-focused agricultural programs.
• Improve knowledge of locally available,
affordable nutrient-rich foods and increase
consumption by women and young children.
• Take steps to enable women to exercise
control over income and resources.
• Improve maternal access to vitamin A and iron
supplements.
• Improve women’s skills in managing finances
and provide more opportunities to participate
in livelihood and income generation activities.
Increase access to credit and lending.
• Combine agriculture and nutrition programs
to help reduce gender disparities in household
food consumption and distribution. Equip
women and men to identify and think through
the various sociocultural reasons behind
specific childcare and feeding practices.
Gender considerations need to be identified and
integrated from the outset of nutrition programs—while
programs are being designed and planned, and throughout
the period when they are being implemented. Gender
integration in nutrition programs can be accomplished using
tools already shown to be effective: gender analysis, gendersensitive strategies and activities, and monitoring the impact
of gender mainstreaming efforts.
Gender discrimination and malnutrition are closely
linked. Inequalities and disparities between males and
females within households and communities lower the health
and nutritional status of women, girls, and young children.
As a 2009 UNICEF study puts it, “an improvement in the
status of women37—including access to education and health
care, increased decision-making power, and gender equality—
will contribute to marked and sustained improvements
in child nutrition.” The nutrition interventions with the
greatest impact are those focused on the 1,000-day period
from pregnancy until age 2.
www.bread.org
When women gain additional resources, they are more likely to use them for
their children’s needs.
Bread for the World Institute 5
ACDi/VOCA
Conclusion