Chapter 7 details the obstacles women face in agriculture. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation began focusing on gender equality after receiving funds from Buffet in 2006, investing in poverty reduction through farming. Successful farming requires arable land, adequate supplies, time, and knowledge. Simply being a woman is a barrier to all these things. In Malawi, for example, women cannot inherit land. As a result, many do not own their own plots, which prevents them from earning a living. Malawian women do not have a say in how their families spend money, which prevents them from buying seeds and farming supplies. They spend much of their day doing unpaid work, leaving them little time to grow crops. Although the government of Malawi and philanthropic organizations offer training sessions to support farming, women generally don’t attend as cultural norms bar them from leaving their homes.

They’re Almost All Women

Gender didn’t start as a focal point for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Although some of their work focused on women’s issues, such as maternal and newborn care, their emphasis was on global health. It wasn’t until 2006 that the foundation made concentrated efforts to work toward gender parity.