Inspiring Agricultural Change: Sharefair on Rural Women's Technologies “Improving Food Security, Nutrition, and Productive Family Farming in Eastern and Southern Africa”

NAIROBI, Kenya, October 13, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — UN Women’s Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa, in partnership with FAO, IFAD, WFP and others will host the Inspiring Agricultural Change: Sharefair on Rural Women’s Technologies to Improve Food Security, Nutrition and Productive Family Farming, an exciting regional initiative that will coincide with International Rural Women’s Day and World Food Day in Nairobi, Kenya.

This is an invitation to participate in:

What: Sharefair on Rural Women’s Technologies

When: 15 October, 2014: 0700 – 1630 hrs

17 October, 2014: 0700 – 1500 hrs

OFFICIAL OPENING 9.00 A.M 15 OCT 2014

Where: United Nations Office in Nairobi, Gigiri

Who: Technology Innovators, policy makers, academicians, food producers, investors, gender experts

Studies have demonstrated that removing gender-related barriers and empowering women in agriculture to fully engage in regional economies would accelerate growth, reduce poverty and improve food security. The Sharefair is expected to boost attention to rural women as drivers of rural progress and change in view of the 2015 MDGs, and the post-MDG agenda as well as the 20th anniversary in 2015 of the Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the 4th World Conference on Women.

There will be a substantive South-South component to the initiative that will bring together rural women innovators from around the region, and offer a platform for policymakers, academicians, food producers, investors, technology innovators and others to interact with the women.

High-level roundtables will be held with regional and national government officials and other selected sector leaders to highlight efforts to introduce gender-sensitive agricultural and nutrition policies, identify promising technologies, and how to address the constraints to scaling up. This 3-day event is being prioritized as the 2014 flagship event for the Regional Network on Gender and Rural Livelihoods for Eastern and Central Africa.

To encourage and develop future technologies, a Young Innovator Award will also be presented to acknowledge promising students and innovators who are designing technologies that take into consideration the unique gender dimensions of rural agriculture, food security and nutrition.

For more information, visit the Sharefair website at: www.empowerwomen.org/sharefair2014