For a food-secure world, invest in women and girls.

For regions in Africa beset by drought and food insecurity, the war in Ukraine is a force-multiplier.

The conflict is sharply driving up the cost of living in countries like Kenya that rely heavily on Russia and Ukraine for wheat and fertilizer.

It is exacerbating food insecurity in drought regions, such as the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, and those coping with conflicts and COVID-19.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 26 million people now are suffering from acute food insecurity. Bread, a family food staple, is often absent from the dinner table.

Gender pandemic

The data are disturbing, the pain points are many, and the victims are myriad. Yet, it is all too clear, and not surprising, that women and girls are bearing a disproportional toll from the war, conflicts, COVID-19, and climate change.

Women-headed households, elderly women, gender-diverse persons, people with disabilities, and minorities absorb the most fallout.

How can we feed our families, ensure economic prosperity, and protect the environment for all Africans without involving all Africans-women and men alike? We cannot.

A rapid gender analysis of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine demonstrates that women are reducing their food intake to provide for their children, the elderly, and the sick, and are depleting their savings to buy food whenever and wherever it is available.

According to a newly-released report on the state of food security and nutrition in the world, the gender food insecurity gap has widened-from less than 2 per cent in 2019 to more than 4 per cent in 2021, with 32 per cent of women versus 28 per cent of men moderately or severely food insecure.

Sadly, we know exactly why women and girls are struggling the most. Multiple crises are intensifying pre-existing structural inequalities, including gender inequalities, resulting in negative outcomes for women and girls.

We need to harness the potential, optimism, and ingenuity of our young people. A 2019 study by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) found that the average age of farmers in developing countries is about 34. This flatly refutes stories that the farming population is aging, or that rural youth are leaving agriculture because they find farming 'uncool' and 'arduous.' We must make agriculture work for them.

Gender equality considerations remain largely absent from discussions on food systems and on response and recovery despite the vital roles that women provide, worldwide...