As featured and recognized in the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific（ESCAP） Progress Report on Gender Mainstreaming 2022 and 2023 as a “Gender Champion”, Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (CSAM) reinforced its commitment in coordinating and advocating for the substantive mainstreaming of gender perspectives within its thematic area of work. 

In collaboration with the Nanjing Institute of Agricultural Mechanization (NIAM) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) of China, CSAM organized its 10th Regional Forum on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Asia and the Pacific from 28 to 30 November 2023 in Shanghai, China, with the theme “Gender Mainstreaming in Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization”.

 
Despite the key roles of women in agrifood system as producers, processors, laborers, traders and consumers, “the agricultural sector has long been characterized by traditional gender roles, where men were often perceived as the primary operators of machinery and women as contributors to manual labour and support roles”. Thus, empowering women and closing gender gaps in agricultural mechanization does not just help towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals, but also leads to better food and nutrition security at the household level and results in resilient and sustainable food systems overall.

The 10th Regional Forum was opened by Dr. Yutong Li, Head of ESCAP-CSAM; Mr. Cao Guangqiao, Deputy Director General of NIAM-MARA; and Ms. Smriti Aryal, UN Women Country Representative in China.

      
The event was attended by 55 participants from 16 countries in Asia and the Pacific as well as representatives of UN Women, the Asian Farmers Association, and the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists. The participants shared their understanding and perspectives on the challenges and opportunities of women in agrifood systems, proven practices and good cases on designing gender-responsive technologies and empowering women engineers, and innovations and insights on how to improve women smallholder farmers’ access to mechanization in an integrated manner and address gendered barriers to technology adoption, particularly through regional cooperation.

     
The participants echoed the view of Dr. Yutong Li in her remarks that only harnessing the full potential of both women and men, we can foster innovation, resilience, and sustainability in the context of the global challenges that food systems are facing in our region and at a global level. 

In addition, on 30 November, the participants also visited three enterprises in Shanghai related to post-harvesting, smart mechanization and modern facility agriculture technologies to explore how the advanced technologies could support the empowerment of women farmers.