If farmers are to increase food production and food security,
they need better access to agricultural support systems, such as
credit, technology, extension services and agricultural
education, as well as to the rural organizations that often
channel other services. Both men and women smallholders and poor
farmers have frequently been cut off from these essential
agricultural support systems, which seldom take into account the
different responsibilities and needs of men and women farmers.
In spite of their enormous potential and their crucial roles in
agricultural production, women in particular have insufficient
access to production inputs and support services. This trend
underlines the need to implement measures aimed at enhancing the
access of small farmers, especially women, to production inputs
- particularly since the working environment of development
organizations has changed as a result of market liberalization
and a reduced role for the state worldwide. National
agricultural extension systems are no