THE latest estimates from the World Bank show that, against the projected global rate of extreme poverty before the pandemic, between 75 million and 95 million, more people are now living below the global extreme poverty line (US$2.15 per person/day). Furthermore, the United Nations estimates that the number of people suffering from hunger in 2021 increased by an additional 150 million since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, 12% of the world’s population faced severe food insecurity. One of the most efficient and effective strategy to tackle these issues is empowering rural women, whose efforts are crucial to fighting hunger and poverty. Rural women make up a quarter of the world population and close to half of the world’s agricultural workforce, whereas in some developing countries a large majority of farmers are women. Yet, globally, rural women are paid 25% less than men for doing the same work. Also, only 20% of landholders are women. Women are also more likely to suffer from poverty, hunger and the ill effects of insufficient nutrition. Almost 30% of all women around the world suffer from anemia. Empowerment of rural women should also be seen as investing in an untapped resource that benefits society. Estimates indicate that if rural women had equal access to agricultural assets, education and market opportunities, their yields would increase by 20-30%, reducing the number of hungry people in the world by 100-150 million. Over the past 40 years, China and the U.N.’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have been working closely to enhance the capacity to upgrade agricultural production, and fight poverty and improve food security. In China, 70% of all farmers are women. The current projects implemented in China supported by the IFAD all feature specific aspects for boosting the capacity of local talented entrepreneurs, particularly women. The projects utilize the so-called “Public-Private-Producer Partnerships” model through which small agricultural enterprises and cooperatives receive support to implement innovative business plans specifically designed to benefit vulnerable smallholder farmers. Through cooperation with key partners, such as the Youcheng Foundation, provincial Women’s Federations, and U.N. Women, rural women are provided training in agricultural entrepreneurship, particularly in the application of digital technologies in agriculture. Take the case of Wu Qiong, a 35-year-old business leader of Qionglin Agricultural Science and Technology Company in Zhenba County, Shaanxi Province. Along with four other young local entrepreneurs, she received support for a business plan initiative through the IFAD project called “Sustaining Poverty Reduction through Agribusiness Development in South Shaanxi.” Wu, who has a family background in agriculture — her father being a livestock farmer — heard about the initiative. She had already started a successful business growing mushrooms in 2018 at a production base in Qingshui, a remote town in the mountainous area surrounding Zhenba. She hired locals, mostly women and persons with disabilities for the business. With support from IFAD, she started in 2020 to sell mushrooms grown by her company and by other farmers online. China today has the world’s largest e-commerce market, with sales transaction for goods reaching over US$4 trillion in 2021 according to the Ministry of Commerce. Small enterprises and farmers’ cooperatives are able to sell to retailers or directly reach consumers across the country. Today, Wu’s start-up sells local specialties produced by several thousand local farmers, with total annual sales reaching 50 million yuan (US$6.98 million). The startup employs 16 full-time and 150 part-time workers, around 95% of whom are women. Many of these women were earlier unemployed, or had no independent source of income. Before Wu started her mushroom business, she too was unemployed, which she says made her feel that she lacked a voice in her family. Now, besides achieving her career goals, she has been able to provide job opportunities to low-income families as well as an efficient sales channel benefiting small food producers. Wu’s story exemplifies that if provided with an enabling environment, talented women entrepreneurs can make a significant impact on their communities.(China Daily) | 