Women account for 60–80 per cent of smallholder farmers and comprise the largest percentage of the workforce in the agricultural sector. Inequalities between women and men in access to land, productive resources, income-generating activities and public consultation spaces seriously undermine women’s capacity to contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The ECOWAS Parliament is empowered to consider issues concerning human rights and fundamental freedoms of citizens, community policy on environment, among others, and make recommendations to the appropriate institutions and/or organs of the community. Responsible investment in land is an issue of human rights, thus the proposed conference will seek to:

• Understand the importance of promoting a gender equality and women’s empowerment approach to agricultural investment in land
• Share recent research, learning, programming and experience on gender and agricultural investments in Africa, including:  
  • Present the IISD report, Promoting Gender Equality in Foreign Agricultural Investments: Lessons from voluntary sustainability standards
  • Disseminate the Oxfam-IISD Gendered Tool on Meaningful Community Engagement with Large Scale Land Based Investments (LSLBI) in Agriculture in Africa
  • Present the FAO program, Promoting gender-equitable and inclusive land-related investment policies and regulatory frameworks that contribute to enhance food security, reduce poverty and strengthen the livelihood of poor rural women and men
• Raise awareness on international frameworks that promote responsible investment in agriculture
• Foster policy dialogue on women’s land rights.

For more details please view the agenda.