Women’s land rights key to reducing global poverty, ensuring food security

11 March 2010, The Daily Tell
URL: http://www.thedailytell.com/2010/03/womens-land-rights-key-to-reducing-global-poverty-ensuring-food-security/

Seattle:  Catherine Bertini, winner of the World Food Prize, will keynote the Rural Development Institute’s (RDI) fourth and largest-ever International Women’s Day celebration, raising awareness about the importance of secure land rights as a key strategy in alleviating extreme poverty and improving food security.

“RDI’s Women and Land luncheon is an important opportunity to broaden understanding of the need for women to have secure land rights as a systemic, long-term solution to global poverty and food insecurity, said Tim Hanstad, president and CEO of RDI. The event has been steadily gaining interest and has grown exponentially since RDI’s first event four years ago. “For the second year in a row, the event has sold-out, which tells us that more and more individuals and organizations are understanding the vital role that women play in our global economy.”

Women produce 60- 80 % of the food in most developing countries, yet only 2 % of the world’s land is owned by women. With the support of Bertini, former executive director of the United Nations World Food Program, RDI hopes to draw greater attention to the burden of responsibility many of the world’s poorest women face when it comes to growing and preparing food, especially amidst global concerns about a food crisis. RDI’s comparative expertise and extensive research shows that women’s secure access to land will provide a feasible way to improve food security and improve child nutrition.

Bertini previously served as United Nations under secretary-general for management and before that, the U.S. Department of Agriculture assistant secretary for food and consumer services where she ran the nation’s $33 billion domestic food assistance programs. She co-chairs the Global Agricultural Development Initiative at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and recently worked as a Senior Fellow in Agricultural Development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As a professor of public administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, Bertini also teaches courses in humanitarian aid and girls’ education, drawing on years of leadership in international organizations, global relief efforts and nutrition policy.

“Women feed the world, and with secure property rights they can provide better nutrition for the household, increase food security, increase income and economic growth, and have improved bargaining power and status within the household and community.” added Hanstad. “RDI’s research has shown that even a little bit of land, sometimes as small as one-tenth of an acre, can help women build a sustainable livelihood.”

Since starting its Women and Land Program nearly 10 years ago to focus specifically on gender issues around land access, RDI has recognized that efforts to improve women’s legal rights to land are often isolated. To address this issue, RDI launched the Global Center for Women’s Land Rights in 2009 to catalyze the global community around this issue and provide policymakers, scholars, and philanthropists with an opportunity to share ideas and strategies for improving women’s access and rights to land. The Center will also provide training opportunities, beginning with a fellowship program in partnership with Columbia University School of Law this fall.

“Research in this area is absolutely crucial,” said Renee Giovarelli, director of the Global Center for Women’s Land Rights at RDI and a speaker at RDI’s upcoming International Women’s Day event. “We know that deeply rooted cultural norms and customs in many developing countries are often stronger than constitutional laws, but a lot can be done to help make those rights real for women and girls. It’s important to adopt an approach that is sensitive to the cultural realities these women face, and to provide legal literacy on the laws that are already in place so that women understand their rights.”

The Honorary Chairs of the event are Jim Pigott, chair of RDI’s board of directors and president of Pigott Enterprises, and Gaye Pigott. Colleen Willoughby, founder and former president of the Washington Women’s Foundation, and Martha Kongsgaard, president of the Kongsgaard-Goldman Foundation, will serve as Co-Chairs. The Honorary Advisory Council for the event includes Jane Wales, Co-Founder of the Global Philanthropy Forum; Naomi Tutu, daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Geeta Rao Gupta, President and CEO of the International Center for Research on Women; Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO of Mercy Corps and others.

RDI’s Women and Land luncheon will be held at the Seattle Sheraton Hotel on March 11, 2010 from 12-1:30 p.m. To learn more visit www.rdiland.org.

About the Rural Development Institute RDI is an international non-profit working to secure land rights for the world’s poor. Over the past 40 years, RDI has worked in nearly 50 countries, partnering with governments on reforms that have helped more than 100 million families attain secure land rights. A global pioneer in using law to create land ownership opportunities, RDI’s collaborations with government partners create leveraged, sustainable and generational poverty alleviation. For every dollar contributed, on average, RDI has helped secure land rights for six families.

*  For more information, visit www.rdiland.org