The case for gender-lens investing in nutritious food value chains

Women play a pivotal role in global food systems and agrifood value chains, contributing significantly to food production processing and distribution. Globally 36% of women and over 65% of women in certain regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia earn their living from agriculture – which is also the source of the food that contributes to improving nutrition. Gender considerations are an increasingly important factor in investors’ investment decisions, as demonstrated by the 2X Challenge, an initiative launched at the G7 Summit 2018 as a bold commitment to inspire DFIs/International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the broader private sector to invest in the world’s women. In this session, we will make the case for investing in nutritious food value chains, emphasizing the alignment between these types of investments and investors’ objectives of advancing gender equality. We will make the case for gender lens investing in nutritious food value chains, by discussing women’s involvement in those value chains and investment opportunities that will positively impact women’s livelihood as well as nutrition, food systems and biodiversity. By highlighting how investing in nutrition, agriculture and biodiversity can have a significant positive impact on women and is therefore in alignment with the 2X Challenge, we aim to increase capital flows towards the sector. The session will highlight examples of such investment opportunities.