Poor nutrition among children is widespread in many African countries.56 million children under the age of 5 are undernourished, whilst 30 million are acutely
undernourished according to a recent study: vitamin A deficiency being a major public health issue.
Interestingly, there has been a correlation between the empowerment of women in agriculture, and increased food security and nutrition. Women represent approximately 40% of the agricultural labour force globally and grow much of the food for their families and communities. Research has shown that households that are headed by women farmers have the highest levels of food security and food diversity. In South Africa, 20% of farmers who own farms are women and 52% of farm workers are women.
The International Food Policy Research Institute found that gender dynamics in nutrition and agriculture play a major role in production outcome. When women farmers were empowered crop diversity increased. AGRA and Kofi Annan Foundation in Ghana have an initiative aimed at tackling malnutrition by increasing women empowerment in agriculture. One of their projects supports increased availability and consumption of the orange – fleshed sweet potato, known to have high levels of Vitamin A.
It is for this reason that Fourth Wave Tech provides Artificial Intelligence based education to help women farmers produce the right quality products with nutritional value, while increasing their throughput and effectiveness. The inclusion and empowerment of women in agriculture is essential for producing more
nutritious crops which ultimately improve public health. Women can’t continue to work long hours of unpaid labour, toiling the land they do not own,
to plant crops they have no authority to manage.
