The role of information communications technologies in
supporting rural women's economic empowerment, voice and status, was the focus
of discussions at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on
8 March, International Women’s Day, reports NaijaAgroNet.
IFAD, together with United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), will highlight the role
that innovations in information and communications technologies (ICTs) can play
in expanding rural women's opportunities in value chains and enterprise
development, while increasing their access to education and information.
Many women, particularly young rural women, lack access to
productive resources such as land, credit and technology. Women lag behind in
terms of their access to ICTs, with only 41 per cent of women in low-and middle
income countries owning mobile phones compared to 46 per cent for males. Nearly
two-thirds of women living in the South Asia and East Asia and Pacific
sub-regions do not own a mobile phone. Rural women regularly lack access to
health care, education, decent work and social protection. As a consequence,
they are more likely to be poor and they are vulnerable to economic and
climatic shocks.
ICTs can go a long way to boosting economic opportunities
for rural women. Mobile and smartphones, for example, provide access to
real-time information on prices in different markets and allow more informed
choices about where and when to buy and sell. Studies indicate that when women
earn money, they are more likely than men to spend it on food for their
families and the education of their children.
Uj. N. Dominic/ED, OP
