Panafrican News Agency

Congo: Towards validation of action plan to accompany ECCAS women

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA)  - Representatives of different departments of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and experts from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will from 27-29 February meet here to validate the ECCAS gender and agriculture action plan, official sources said here Wednesday.

A draft document on women’s empowerment in the agro-sylvo-pastoral and halieutic sectors in Central Africa, and priority channels of values for countries will also be adopted.

“Women represent about 70% of the agricultural workforce and are mainly engaged in subsistence productions which they provide the largest part of the offer,” said a press release sent by the FAO to PANA. 

However, ‘’they are less productive than men because of the access to the means of production such as lands, finances, services, inputs and technologies. The persisting inequalities between sex sap therefore the performances of the agricultural sector in central Africa,” added the release, 

“Considering gender equality as driving force behind regional integration and a development goal, ECCAS elaborated a policy which general objective is to promote gender for social justice and the fight against poverty in view of sustainable development.

“Actually, to accelerate the materialization of gender commitments within agricultural policies, the regional institution has, in collaboration with FAO, implemented a technical cooperation project on the ‘Gender response to the regional, national agricultural investment plans to take up the zero challenge within ECCAS.” 

The validation of the ECCAS gender and agricultural action plan comes within the framework of the project.

More than 60 percent of ECCAS populations live in rural area and 50 percent of working populations work in the agricultural sector with disparities between states. A region of potentials for the continent, Central Africa, via the Congo basin, holds 19 percent of the world’s tropical forests. Despite that exceptional potential, Central Africa is facing a food insecurity marked by strong dependence on the international market.

 

-0-    PANA   MB/IS/MSA/RA    26Feb2020