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By Lucinda Gibson, 2024 World Food Forum Fellow
The Canberra Pre-Departure briefings offered an invaluable opportunity to finalise preparations for our upcoming trip to the World Food Forum in Rome. We received an informative crash course in policy writing (led by the amazing GV policy manager Felicity!), were reminded of the importance of maintaining a critical lens in an unconscious bias workshop (facilitated by GV CEO Ely!), and engaged in team-building exercises to refine our delegation’s agenda (shout out to our Delegations Manager Mary!). We also had a very exciting behind-the-scenes tour of the Press Gallery at Parliament, numerous bilateral meetings with embassy officials and participated in insightful discussions with experts in agriculture, agrifood science, food systems, and regional food insecurity. I am particularly grateful for the time and wisdom shared by Prof. John McCarthy from ANU, Dr. Viv Rolland from CSIRO, and Cathy McGowan of AgriFutures.
Cathy McGowan’s discussion in particular left an impression upon me, prompting me to reflect on my own burgeoning experiences in and exposure to agriculture and how I can maximise the impact of this fellowship—not just during the delegation, but in all my future endeavours. She set us the task of ‘designing policy for impact’—a simple yet profound phrase. At first, I jotted it down casually, but as she delved deeper into the subject, it became clear that the true challenge lies in ensuring that the real issues are understood, and that the voices of all those affected are genuinely heard.
McGowan’s reflections on her own career, particularly a visit to Papua New Guinea, brought this point home. She recounted asking to meet women farmers and being told that there were none. It was only later that she realised the women identified as ‘gardeners’, despite being significant food producers. This seemingly minor detail—how women labelled themselves—meant that their contributions were overlooked in critical farming discussions. It was a striking example of how language, cultural framing and methods of data collection can exclude entire groups from the policymaking process, and it was a revelation that profoundly shaped McGowan’s approach to inclusive policy design. The impact of terminology and data collection is widely documented in literature and journal articles (Adley et al., 2023; Pittman, Appel, & Open Data Watch, 2021; Pamphilon & Mikhailovich, 2019).
McGowan’s story immediately brought to mind Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez, a book I’ve reread several times since its release in 2019. The exclusion of women from data, and therefore from decision-making, is a theme Perez unpacks with stark clarity (Criado Perez, 2019). In agriculture, as in so many sectors, this oversight is common. As McGowan’s experience shows, women who play essential roles in food production can be rendered invisible—both in language and in data—because they don’t fit into predefined categories. This is especially troubling given that, according to FAO estimates, women are responsible for producing between 60% and 80% of the world’s food (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2023; Doss, Meinzen-Dick, Quisumbing, & Theis, 2018). If the voices and contributions of these women are absent from the discussion, how can we possibly craft policies that address the real needs of the agricultural world?
Amidst this opportunity lies the potential for a transformative quest: to weave the principles of feminism into the fabric of data collection, agriculture, and policy development. This endeavour finds resonance in the concept of "data feminism," as articulated by Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein. They challenge the notion that numbers speak for themselves, insisting instead that data must be understood within the intricate contexts in which they are produced. Only then can we truly uncover the stories they conceal and the voices they often overlook (Klein & D’Ignazio, 2020; Subia, 2022).
This issue extends beyond gender, affecting Indigenous communities and other marginalised groups whose knowledge and experience are often excluded from both domestic and international policy frameworks. As I prepare to engage with discussions at the World Food Forum, McGowan’s message echoes strongly: to design policy with real impact, we must ensure that the full spectrum of voices—especially those most often overlooked—are not only included but centred in the process.
In my own experiences, I have seen this exclusion firsthand, yet up until now, have been unable to recognise the significance nor articulate it accurately. Earlier this year, while working on my Engineering Capstone project on renewable energy in Bali’s coffee plantation regions, a similar pattern emerged. In our meetings with our end-user farmers, we spoke almost exclusively with men. It was only during those quieter, informal moments—when I wandered off on my own or struck up conversations with local women—that I began to glimpse their hidden roles. These women, burdened with the weight of domestic life, quietly ran households while also contributing significantly to food production.
Though they lived and worked in these agricultural landscapes, cultivating their own food in backyard gardens and supporting their husbands in managing the family farms, they were conspicuously absent from the discussions. As we talked to their husbands or sons about farm struggles—issues ranging from low productivity, climate change, technological advances to market challenges—I couldn’t help but wonder about the perspectives of these women. What insights were left unspoken? What brilliant ideas were being left unsaid?
I only began to understand their lives through the connections I sought out—simple acts of kindness exchanged as I wandered the village streets, looking for my homestay or asking for directions. In those fleeting moments, as we shared stories, I caught a glimpse into the world of these women, whose contributions to their families and communities went largely unnoticed, yet were undoubtedly vital. They weren’t just supporting the farm; they were, in many ways, the foundation upon which everything else stood.
As I prepare to attend the World Food Forum, I am reminded of John Locke’s concept of tabula rasa, the idea of approaching new experiences as a blank slate. While I aspire to learn and absorb from all those I encounter, I now realise that listening to the loudest, most prominent voices won’t be enough. To truly understand and create meaningful impact, I must be intentional in hearing the stories and perspectives of those who are systematically excluded, and often left unseen.
In a similar vein, feminism in agriculture calls for the recognition, value, and measurable contributions of women in the field, bringing to light the often-overlooked roles they play. A feminist approach to policy development, in turn, confronts the deep-seated unconscious biases that have long pervaded historical policymaking. It emphasises the necessity of intersectionality—ensuring that the voices and perspectives of a truly representative cross-section of Australia are included. This approach spans gender, ethnicity, culture, lived experience, and age, striving to create policies that reflect the rich diversity of the nation.
The World Food Forum’s theme, "Good food for all, today and tomorrow," invites us to question who "all" really refers to. My hope is that the conversations in Rome will reflect a true diversity of voices and experiences, ensuring that policies are not only designed for all, but shaped by all.
References
Adley, M., Alderson, H., Jackson, K., McGovern, W., Spencer, L., Addison, M., & O’Donnell, A. (2023). Ethical and practical considerations for including marginalised groups in quantitative survey research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 27(5), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2023.2228600
Criado Perez, C. (2019). Invisible women: Exposing data bias in a world designed for men. London: Vintage.
Doss, C., Meinzen-Dick, R., Quisumbing, A., & Theis, S. (2018). Women in agriculture: Four myths. Global Food Security, 16, 69–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2017.10.001
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2023). The status of women in agrifood systems. In Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations website: https://doi.org/10.4060/cc5343en
Klein, L. F., & D’Ignazio, C. (2020). Data feminism (pp. 97–124). Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Mit Press.
Pittman, A., Appel, D., & Open Data Watch. (2021, September 13). Feminist data collection: Building a vision of an inclusive system. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from Feminist AI website: https://feministai.pubpub.org/pub/feminist-data-collection
Pamphilon, B., & Mikhailovich, K. (2019). Examining women’s business acumen in papua new guinea: Working with women smallholders in horticulture. In Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. Canberra: ACIAR. Retrieved from ACIAR website: https://www.canberra.edu.au/research/faculty-research-centres/csc/livelihoods-and-learning-for-sustainable-communities/family-farms-teams-program/publications/Final_report_2010.052.pdf
Subia, G. (2022). Data Feminism. The AAG Review of Books, 10(3), 13–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/2325548x.2022.2072592
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The views and opinions expressed by Global Voices Fellows do not necessarily reflect those of the organisation or its staff.