Africa: Graça Machel Remarks At the Global Agribusiness Forum

Thank you to our Datagro hosts for convening us today and for the invitation for me to address this important forum that was so graciously extended to me by:

• Dr Plinio Nastari, Presidente de Datagro, and
• Guilherme Benchimol, Presidente do Conselho da XP

I must begin my remarks by sending a message of solidarity to the hundreds of thousands of families who have been affected by the catastrophic flooding in Rio Grande do Sul. As a Mozambican, we know the monumental impact of these disasters and on a near annual basis have devastating cyclones hit our shores. With the support of government, business, and civil society organizations and the assistance of your fellow Brazilians, we hope your loss will be minimized and efforts to rebuild will be swift.

Today, we gather here in Sao Paolo as stewards of the land, champions of innovation, and guardians of the future. As members of the Brazilian agribusiness community and beyond, we have a profound responsibility–not just to our industry, but to our nations and the world. We stand at a crossroads where our choices will shape the lives of millions, both here in Brazil and across the globe.

Food insecurity remains one of the most pressing challenges of our time.

As we sit here this morning, nearly 800 million people, or almost 10% of the world’s population, face chronic hunger. This is in addition to 2.4 billion people who are food insecure, which is nearly 30% of the global population.

I come to you from Mozambique, where, like Brazil, Africa grapples with a severe crisis with over 250 million people experiencing food insecurity.

Here in Brazil alone, we all know that over 33 million people face hunger every day. But I found it particularly shocking that despite being one of the largest food producers in the world, over half the Brazilian population–125 million people–are experiencing some kind of food insecurity.

Brazil feeds millions of people around the globe and your agribusiness industries are booming. Your food goes to China, to the Middle East, to Asia and Africa–everywhere. But your brothers and sisters within your very own borders are going to bed hungry every night. How can it be that your food is not feeding your own people?

There is enough food being produced, but it is either not accessible, not available or not affordable for everyone. Equally disturbing is the fact that just over 40% of food supply in Brazil is lost or wasted annually even though much of the wastage is food that is nutritious and safe for consumption, and could be directed to people facing hunger.[i] There is no good explanation for this madness.

This is a clear expression of inequality which fuels poverty and social injustice.

Hunger has a face here – it is overwhelmingly from a poor community, predominately Black, and amongst them, female and young. Millions of Brazilians consider nutritious food as an elusive luxury. They see it but they cannot afford to buy it. And when they do, they will buy the bare minimum and it will be of low quality; inadequate to meet their nutritional needs.

Millions reside in “food deserts” – areas where your very neighbors have few to no convenient options for securing affordable and healthy foods-especially fresh fruits and vegetables. Disproportionately found in high-poverty areas, “food deserts” create extra, everyday hurdles that can make it harder for children, families and communities to grow healthy and strong.

In this country, racism and sexism render black women the lowest-paid group in Brazil. A recent survey shows the income gap is largest between white men and black women, where Black women are paid 44% less than their white male counterparts. With this reduced income, they are forced to spend less on food, rendering limited nutritional benefit for their families. For those whom nutritious food is too expensive and inaccessible, we see a correlation with poorer health and education outcomes, such as higher rates of mortality, and deficiencies in cognitive function.

Why have we allowed certain people’s lives to be valued more than others. The health and aspirations of certain segments of society are nurtured, while we have permitted others to live destitute and barely a dignified existence. It seems we have misplaced our priorities; putting profit and production over respecting the basic human needs of every citizen.

These inequalities beg important questions that I ask you today: What is being produced and for whom? Who amongst us is going hungry and why? Why are millions of our children undernourished? Why are the overwhelming majority of them black? What needs to change so no one of us experiences lack?

As a national imperative, every single person in this country should have access to nutritious food. I know some of you will say this is not the mandate of business. You will say it is government’s responsibility. Yes and No. Yes, it is an obligation of government to feed its people. But I will stand those who argue that accessibility to food is a sovereignty issue and big business should also be concerned with sovereignty. Isn’t it so?

Within these challenges lies an incredible opportunity–an opportunity to transform our approach to agribusiness. Central to this transformation is the enhanced contributions of women as producers, consumers, entrepreneurs, as well as overall innovators and leaders in agribusiness.

For a woman, no matter rich or poor, her basic concern is for her family to be fed and healthy. When women are in decision-making spaces as producers or consumers, they bring this perspective of ensuring the fundamental needs of every human being is met.

Women’s Leadership and Food Security

Why focus on women, you might ask? The answer is simple: women are the backbone of food security. Their leadership can not only help redesign the agribusiness sector into one of equity and prosperity for all, but can also build more vibrant and healthy communities as a whole.

As I will share with you this morning, women bring unique perspectives and approaches to agriculture. They are often the first to adopt sustainable practices and are deeply committed to the well-being of their families and communities.

While all rights are extremely important, the right to food and nutritious food is the most foundational of human rights. When you have nourishing food, you have health, the brainpower to continue education, and the ability to be a productive member of society in any sector. Resolving the issue access to food is key to unleashing the full potential of all people and communities. Food security contributes to the reduction of inequality. Investing in good health is investing in a better and more equal society for all. To break the cycle of poverty, you need to start with food and nutrition.

Let us visit for a moment the transformative benefits of leveraging the full power of women as producers, entrepreneurs and consumers.

Producers

Until just a decade ago, women were virtually absent from the large-scale agribusiness landscape in Brazil, highlighting a significant gap in racial equality, leadership and innovation. When women have leadership roles in agricultural production, they tend to prioritize the nutritional needs of their families and communities. Studies show that women are more likely to grow diverse crops, which improves dietary variety and nutrition.

Land tenure and inheritance rights are vital for women producers as they provide economic stability, legal recognition, and the ability to invest in and manage land productively. Here in Brazil, I am told women own only 19% of agricultural land, despite representing 30% of the agricultural workforce. These figures of land ownership and women-led production need to dramatically increase. Securing land and inheritance rights enable women to make long-term agricultural decisions, access credit, and adopt sustainable farming practices, which directly enhances food security. In countries where women have equal rights to land, we see clearly how this leads to better resource management, increased agricultural yields, and improved household nutrition and welfare.

I humbly offer an approach my own work at the Graca Machel Trust. We know the economic development of nations hinges on the participation of its women, and we also acknowledge that their contribution is underestimated, undervalued and under-utilized. So through our African Women in Agribusiness Network, we seek to increase women’s position in the entire agricultural value chain and propel women’s agricultural activities beyond subsistence farming and into viable businesses.

African women are particularly affected by low agricultural productivity, lack of control of means of production, and low financial returns from farming. Our work responds to the need to advance women across the agriculture value chain to enhance their productivity and profit through improved inputs, access to markets and finance at community, regional and national level.

We strategically created a model that put women and families in control of food production. One of the lessons we have learned is that traditional foods and indigenous seeds, which are not commercialized, are much more healthy and environmentally beneficial. We created a women-led seed production and trade system in leading legumes and cereals, in order to help mitigate rising food demand, malnutrition, climate change and increase economic prosperity for women in the value chain.

Perhaps one of the most powerful forces I have seen in advancing our sector is to invest in women entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs

Women entrepreneurs are the pinnacle of untapped potential in tackling food insecurity. Again I offer a small example from the African continent which is transforming lives and communities that is relevant to our context here. My organization runs an enterprise development initiative designed supports female African entrepreneurs by providing skills, tools, and networks to transform their businesses into wealth-generating enterprises. With over 2,500 participants across seven African countries, the programme offers coaching, mentorship, and technical support to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses and dismantle discriminatory economic systems. We are helping to put knowledge, technology and management capacity in the hands of women for them to become influential in the food value chain. We understand the strategic role of women in solving the food crisis and work with them to grow their enterprises and achieve maximum impact.

We believe that with the right level of support, women can shift from being survivalist and necessity-driven entrepreneurs to becoming wealth creators that provide society with novel approaches to tackling the many development challenges we face–particularly in agribusiness – all while significantly scaling their businesses.

In addition to being powerful producers and entrepreneurs, women everywhere are under-leveraged as consumers.

Consumers

Those who make the decisions about food consumption in all families, regardless of economic stature, are women. We need to listen to women as they are the ones who make the decisions on what is consumed. In the supply and demand equation of agribusiness-they are the drivers of demand. They are powerful and strategic decisionmakers and any savvy business should listen to them so they can guide what should be produced and made available to the public. I am not sure those who determine supply are listening closely enough to those who drive decision making on consumption. Don’t ignore women-listen to them as their decisions are largely centered around the wellbeing and health of their families.

Cultivating the power of women as consumers and harnessing their purchasing power as the main determinants of food choices for their families, has far-reaching benefits that extend beyond agriculture. Women’s agriculture-focused consumerism impacts health outcomes, education, and economic development.

Women who control more of the household income tend to invest more in their children’s education. According to UNESCO, women’s increased control over household resources is associated with higher school enrollment and attainment rates among children, especially girls. This helps break the cycle of poverty and fuel socio-economic development of entire nations as educated children are more likely to contribute positively to their communities and economies in the future.

The multiplier effect around the consumer decisions of women contribute to broader economic development as well. Studies show that women reinvest up to 90% of their earnings into their families and communities, compared to 30-40% for men. This reinvestment helps to improve the wellbeing of entire nations. In agriculture, this means not only better food security but also enhanced economic resilience and growth.

Network Approach: Advocacy and Policy Influence/Information Share/Resource Mobilisation

We work with networks for a very strategic reason: there is power in the collective. We aim to remove structural barriers and the most effective way to dismantle barriers is through networks. The power of networks to influence policy around agribusiness and food security is profound and multifaceted. Networks bring together diverse stakeholders, including farmers, agribusiness professionals, policymakers, researchers, and non-governmental organizations. This diversity enables a comprehensive approach to both advocacy and business growth.

Networks facilitate better market access for farmers by connecting them with buyers, suppliers, and financial institutions. Knowledge is power. Whether one is in Mato Grosso or Sao Paolo, networks work to improve market conditions for farmers by providing access to market information, training on quality standards, and facilitating connections with buyers. These networks help farmers get better prices for their produce, reduce post-harvest losses, and ensure a more reliable income, which in turn enhances food security. I have first hand proof of this from East Africa.

A few years ago African Women in Agribusiness network members from Malawi traveled to Tanzania to participate in a Tanzania-Malawi Trade and Investment Forum. While there, the Malawian network members explored opportunities to expand their business regionally. The team signed a deal to supply soya to a Tanzania based company that would process them into oil and expanded markets for Malawian seed companies in Tanzania. The network helped identify new markets and various distribution channels through which its members, for the first time, were able to trade their produce beyond Malawi’s borders across the East Africa region.

Networks also serve as platforms for sharing knowledge and best practices. They enable the dissemination of innovative agricultural techniques, climate resilience strategies, and sustainable farming practices. Effective networks can mobilize resources, both financial and technical, to support agribusiness initiatives and food security programs. We leverage our networks to attract funding from international donors, multilateral institutions, governments, and private sector partners. These resources are then channeled into programs that support smallholder farmers, women owned businesses, improve agricultural infrastructure, and enhance market access. By pooling resources, networks can implement large-scale projects that individual entities might not be able to undertake alone.

By advocating for policies that support gender equality and women’s access to resources, these networks help break down the barriers that women face in the agricultural sector. I encourage us all here today to be intentional about promoting women’s leadership in this sector as it has a ripple effect whose impact cascades to elevate so many other areas of human development. By leveraging networks, we can create more resilient, sustainable, and food-secure agricultural systems worldwide.

Women and Climate Resilience

As I close, surely we cannot talk about food security and agribusiness without speaking of climate change. As global temperatures rise, we are witnessing an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events in every corner of the globe. I know you know this pain and devastation far too intimately and far too frequently.

We must immediately turn to the untapped potential of women and youth who can be drivers of climate resilience. Women are often at the forefront of adopting sustainable agricultural practices that enhance climate smart responses to climate change. Mitigating food insecurity through climate resilience approaches involves adopting practices and technologies that enhance the ability of agricultural systems to withstand and recover from climatic shocks. We are testing climate-smart agriculture techniques and sustainable land management practices in Mozambique, including the use of drought-resistant crop varieties, efficient water management systems like drip irrigation, and agroforestry practices that enhance soil fertility and reduce erosion. I am proud to say women are at the forefront of these innovations.