These linkages are beginning to be recognized by development agencies, NGOs and national governments. Solutions must address food production and distribution; but they must also pay attention to the rights and needs of the producers of food themselves (Box 6). Introducing effective national population and development policies improves women's physical wellbeing and social status, contributes to gender equality, enhances family life and reinforces the tendency towards smaller families and slower population growth, as well as contributing to an adequate food supply.

Policies should include enlisting the support of community leaders for action in favour of women, to ensuring that women's voices are heard in community decisions, and to promoting women as policymakers as well as workers--for example employing more women as agricultural extension agents and extending their duties to include advice on family planning and reproductive health and rights in general.

Seven policy areas need immediate attention:

• Women's ownership of or title to the land they work. Often the title is in the husband's name, or that of a male relative. In many countries, lack of title to the land automatically excludes women from most of the formal rural economy, including decisions on land use, water rights, training, producer and marketing co-operatives and credit. In some countries, though women may legally hold title, in effect they need a man's backing to apply for credit, services or training;

• The right of women and girl children to inherit land and property. The legal and customary basis of landholding favours men over women in many countries, and even though formal law may have been changed, where law and custom disagree men are usually favoured. For instance, in many countries women are legally allowed to inherit land from their husbands, but in practice the land goes to a male relative;

• Access to credit. Banks and rural credit agencies still tend to regard rural poor women as bad risks, despite evidence from many countries to the contrary. Without credit, women cannot expand their production, improve crop yields, join collectives, or take advantage of rural development programmes;

• The delivery of training and extension services to rural women. Training and extension policies must recognize the vital role women play in food production and family nutrition. Bias towards men has helped to marginalize women in the rural economy. It will help correct this bias if more women are trained as extension workers;

• Integrated population and reproductive health strategies. In many ways this is the fundamental policy area for women. In order to exercise other rights fully, women need choice and control in regard to their fertility--and that means access to comprehensive reproductive health information and services, including family planning;

• Male support. Women need family and community support for their roles as food producers and environmental stewards as well as for their decisions on family size and spacing;

• Inclusion of women in the policy making process. Women need to be made an integral part of the decision making process, not simply regarded as beneficiaries. Leaders at all levels need to become aware of the potential of women and what it will take to release it. Raising awareness among leaders will be easier if more of the leaders are women.

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