Poverty reduction

Despite 40 years of gender being on the development agenda, inequalities have persisted which are greatly hampering progress in reducing poverty and food insecurity. A rethink is needed in how agricultural research and development addresses gender, with a new focus on approaches that challenge the norms and power relations that enable social inequalities to exist and persist. This was the consensus among participants at a recent workshop organised by WorldFish to discuss new approaches to integrating gender in agricultural development.

In Zambia, the Zambezi River forms part of a landscape in which freshwater rivers, lakes and wetlands cover almost 20% of the country during the wet season.  The river is a spectacular tourist destination for anglers and wildlife buffs alike, but for Zambians, these waterways are the country’s food basket, supporting extensive agriculture, fisheries and livestock production. Around 3 million people – a quarter of the landlocked southern African country’s population – directly rely on these aquatic agriculture systems for their livelihoods. In a country where three quarters of the population live in poverty, bolstering the production capacity of the natural environment represents a tantalizing opportunity for economic growth and poverty alleviation.