Gender Research in Integrated Pest Management: Unlocking Food Security

Mar 22, 2019 | Sara Hendery
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Agricultural production is only one of many factors that impacts global food security. A Virginia Tech team has found that some factors, like gender, take a little extra digging to uncover but cannot be overlooked when the goal is to feed the world’s rapidly growing population. 

The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Integrated Pest Management, housed at Virginia Tech and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, addresses crop pests and diseases in Asia and Africa, in addition to considering how gender impacts integrated pest management (IPM) activities and how IPM activities impact gender at the household and community level. In developing countries, women make up 43 percent of the agricultural labor force and, despite producing half of the world’s food, often face constraints that limit profits, contributions and productivity.