A/HRC/22/72 3. Structure of the household and power relations 29. The analysis of the access to resources by rural women needs to take into consideration the composition of the household, whether nuclear or joint family systems (as in the case of polygamous or extended households) and the power relations within. 30. Skewed gender roles tend to favour the traditional supremacy of the husband in rural households. At the level of the household, such patriarchal valuation translates into a greater power for men in the control of land and water resources, in deciding the allocation of the household budget and influencing the distribution of food within the family (see section D below). 31. In polygamous households, there may be inequalities in the distribution of resources among wives. Unfavoured wives and their children may suffer severe forms of discrimination, resulting in heavier domestic workloads and poorer access to education along with poorer access to nutrition and healthcare. 38 Additionally, in polygamous households, the succession to the male head of household fragments land parcels and titles.39 32. Single women in extended family households may face higher degrees of poverty and lack of access to resources, including land, even though the household may otherwise have a good livelihood security. 40 Global pressure on women’s rights to land and water resources 4. 33. The Special Rapporteur on the right to food pointed out that the privatization of local markets where women sell their produce as a way to increase the income of their households, together with the pursuit of land by private actors and the current emphasis on biofuels, endanger women’s food security and livelihoods.41 34. Some studies show that the openness of markets and trade liberalization may contribute to the economic empowerment of rural women. 42 Nevertheless, in order to ensure the presence of rural women and their products on the market, they need to have their resources protected, such as land, and producer status regulated. 35. Large-scale land acquisitions and leases for the production of sugarcane and maize for biofuels reverse the use of agricultural land for food production.43 Many of the traditional occupations of rural women, such as handicrafts, gathering fruit and other foodstuff, fishing, hunting or finding water are dependent on access to land, water and other resources. For instance, in its concluding observations to Togo, the CEDAW Committee requested the State party to ensure that “land lease contracts with foreign companies do not result in forced eviction and internal displacement or the increased food insecurity and poverty of local populations, including women and girls, and that the company concerned and/or the State party provide the affected communities with adequate compensation and 38 39 40 41 42 43 10 V.J. Bolt, K. Bird, see notes 21 and 32 above, p. 16. L. Pruitt (2009), “Migration, development, and the promises of cedaw for rural women”, 30 Michigan Journal of International Law, (2009) p. 739. R. Holmes, N. Jones, “Putting the Social Back into Social Protection. A Famework for Understanding the Linkages between Economic and Social Risks for Poverty Reduction”, Background Note, Overseas Development Institute, 2009, p. 6. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food (A/65/281), 11 August 2010. As cited in the submission by WTO, 30 April 2012. UN-Women, FAO, IFAD, WFP, Report of the Expert Group Meeting, Enabling Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment: Institutions, Opportunities and Participation, EGM/RW/2011/Report, September 2011, para 38.