Women's Equality Day: Women in agriculture & vertical farming
Women's Equality Day: Women in agriculture & vertical farming
August 26th is Women’s Equality Day. Whilst technically a US holiday, gender inequality is still an issue round the world. In this blog we’re looking at gender inequity in farming, and how it impacts everybody, no matter how they identify.
The barriers that are holding women and girls back are having a real effect on our planet as a whole. Project Drawdown, a nonprofit organisation and leading resource for information and insight about climate solutions, estimates that allowing women more equal participation in agriculture could prevent 2.06 gigatons of carbon from entering the atmosphere by 2050. That’s not a typo, we really do mean gigatons - that’s two billion metric tons!
Female farmers around the world
Women make up 43% of the agricultural workforce in low income countries, yet only 10-20% of land owners are women, as many countries are still legally barred from owning or controlling land. Despite women producing as much as 80% of the food in countries such as these, gender-specific obstacles put female farmers at a significant disadvantage before they ever plow a field or sow a seed: including lack of access to land, financing, markets, agricultural training and education, and suitable working conditions. As a result, even though they’re just as capable, these female farmers produce less food on the same amount of land.
Agriculture is a huge driver for deforestation, taking up half of all habitable land across the globe. Something we talk about a lot at LettUs Grow is about reducing pressure on the land. When we’re able to sustainably intensify production, by consistently producing more food on the same amount of land, we can address the main driver for deforestation and reduce that staggering 2.06 gigatons of carbon emissions we mentioned earlier. The researchers at Drawdown modelled the emissions reduction based on avoiding deforestation by increasing the yields of female smallholders. This assertion is backed up by a 2011 study from the FAO called Women in Agriculture: Closing the gender gap for development which found that countries with higher gender equality tend to achieve greater average cereal yields than countries with higher levels of inequality. In the report they state “that closing the gender gap in agriculture can improve agricultural productivity, with important additional benefits through raising the incomes of female farmers, increasing the availability of food and reducing food prices, and raising women’s employment and real wages.”
Removing these barriers in farming, the FAO reports, would not only empower women to achieve their highest economic potential and avoid greenhouse gas emissions, it could help feed a hungry world. They estimate that if female smallholders received the same access to resources as their male counterparts, their productivity could increase by as much as 30%. Most of the approximately 820 million people worldwide who are currently undernourished live in low income countries — the same places where women are so key to food production. Giving women access to the same resources and education as men with the aim of increasing food production by women by 30% could potentially eliminate hunger for 150 million people. In addition, earning extra income would enable women to spend more money on health care, nutrition, and education for their children — investments that could produce long-term, positive results for farm families and their neighbours.
Farming in the UK
The above statistics are addressing inequality in smallholder farming in low income countries. It may be easy to think that this isn’t such an issue in high-income countries such as the UK or USA, but we have our own challenges. The 2020 Women in Food and Agriculture Report found that a lack of female role models and mentors was a barrier to agriculture for women, as was gender bias in the workplace, with women were typically paid less and receiving fewer promotions. These inequalities are also reflected in investment in female-led agri-tech companies. In 2018, a mere 7% of agri-tech deals and 3% of dollars invested in the sector went to female-founded teams according to a study conducted by AgFunder. However, when women-led startups do manage to get funded, they’re more likely to be successful. A Boston Consulting Group analysis found they “ultimately deliver higher revenue — more than twice as much per dollar invested.”
Equality in vertical farming
We’re working hard to push back against these trends at LettUs Grow. We got off to a rocky start with an all male founding team but have sought to empower women into leadership positions here. Over 50% of our new hires in 2020 identified as women which, sadly, is double the norm for the STEM workforce (the percentage of the female STEM workforce in the UK is a little under 25%). Addressing this imbalance is not just the ethically right thing to do, it makes good business sense! The Kauffman Fellows Report found that women-led teams generate a 35% higher return on investment than all-male teams. Much of this may have to do with a diversity of perspectives. Temi Odanye, Engineering Product Lead, had this to say about how we’ve benefited from the diversity at LettUs Grow: “Eating food is something that everyone does, it’s a problem that affects everyone everywhere. We will need solutions that work for different people, groups, locations and cultures. Anyone from any background is already qualified to think about these challenges and suggest solutions. It seems obvious to me that the broader the range of viewpoints, experiences, ideologies and areas of expertise, the better a problem is understood.
“I’ve noticed this even on a small scale within LettUs Grow: the software team suggested some of our key hardware features and many of the new functionalities of our products were conceptualised by the biology team. Because of this, we work to include as many people at the earliest stage of brainstorming and technical design. A more diverse workplace will be better placed for success.”
The more entrepreneurial thinkers that put their heads together to generate solutions, the better our chances of sparking major changes that will benefit everyone. Agriculture, tech, and vertical farming in particular are moving fast, and we know from experience that new ideas and services can become reality quickly. Diverse engagement will lead to ideas that could deliver the paradigm shift that we need to fix our troubled food system. LettUs Grow exists to make positive and lasting change that leaves no-one behind. This is reflected in every choice we make, including the products we build, the partnerships we foster and how we engage with people and our planet. It’s clear to us that women’s full and equal participation is the only way we can achieve this aim.