A/HRC/31/51 40. Woman food producers have been particularly disadvantaged by these policies and there is limited recourse, since the WTO Agreement on Agriculture requires member States to “refrain from introducing new forms of domestic support for agricultural production,” most of which are designed to help support small scale and subsistence women farmers. 44 41. Agricultural trade liberalization is generally premised on export-promotion policies that benefit men and larger-scale farmers. Liberalization has also opened smaller markets to subsidized imports, thus displacing the farmed products of local women, and encouraging the production of export crops over subsistence agriculture. Women are struggling to maintain household incomes due to increased competition with imported agricultural goods, reduced prices, and declining commodity prices in international markets. 42. The trade liberalization policies heavily favor large corporate agribusinesses and a large-scale model of agricultural production, at the expense of the most vulnerable and marginalized small-scale agricultural producers. Women tend to engage in agricultural production on a scale that is not compatible with a large, corporate model of farming, holding smaller plots than men, which are, on average, 20 – 30 percent less productive than plots managed by men.45 43. Agro-biotechnology is also a large part of the corporate model of agriculture, and it poses specific challenges for women. Women generally lack necessary training in technology and experience “time poverty” that prevents them from accessing relevant education. As a result, women are less likely to understand the negative impacts of technological developments and the effective and safe use of technology.46 Women also have limited participation in the development of agro-biotechnology, so such technologies often fail to account for needs of women. B. The extra burdens on female farmworkers 44. Most of the world’s poor who live and work in rural areas are employed in the agriculture sector. Globally, 20 – 30% of the 450 million waged agricultural workers are women, as are 30 % of those employed in the fishing sector and this number is increasing. 47 Yet, women face difficulty in engaging in market behavior when cultural norms make it socially unacceptable for women to interact with men. 45. Even without formal prohibitions to market access, structural barriers may challenge women’s ability to produce in sufficient volumes, establish relationships with buyers, or market their goods. Women may also not have sufficient time to engage in market activities as a result of their unpaid work burdens. As a result, women are particularly disadvantaged by “free” markets. Female farm-workers are often excluded from the benefits of the contract farming arrangements central to the agro-industrial model of contemporary agriculture. Men largely control the contract arrangements while women perform much of the waged agricultural labour.48 44 45 46 47 48 mita Narula, Reclaiming the Right to Food as a Normative Response to the Global Food Crisis, 13 YALE HUM. RTS. & DEV. L. J. 403, 409 (2010) Villareal – Gender and Food Security at p. 5 UNCTAD “ nclusive and gender-sensitive development paths” –, TD/456, 4 (2012). TNI/FIAN/IGO/FDCL (2014) Women agricultural workers and the right to adequate nutrition (Heidelberg: FIAN) [insert web link here] at pp. 6, Biswas, N. 2013. Note from the Editor. Yemaya 42 (March): 1. FAO “The State of Food and Agriculture Women In Agriculture – Closing the Gender Gap for Development” p 13. 11