Addressing gender inequity at the intersection of nutrition and climate action
If integrated systems are the foundation of nutrition resilience, as explored in the 2026 Global Nutrition Report, the next question is who benefits from them.
As the global nutrition community unites behind the Way Forward Statement from the Micronutrient Forum, there is growing recognition that addressing micronutrient deficiencies and malnutrition requires a better understanding of the systems and inequities that shape who can access nutrient-dense diets, health services and opportunities to build resilience in the face of the growing impact of climate change.
The thematic report highlights an important reality: gender inequity, climate resilience and malnutrition are deeply interconnected. Women play essential roles as decision-makers, producers and consumers across agrifood systems, yet they often face structural barriers to the resources, services and decision-making power that are essential to build agrifood systems that are climate-resilient and nutrition-secure.
Climate shocks magnify malnutrition risks
Climate shocks act as a "vulnerability multiplier," worsening existing inequities across food and health systems. Today, an estimated two-thirds of women aged 15 to 49 have at least one micronutrient deficiency. Female-headed households often experience larger climate-related income losses than male-headed households, and women face higher rates of food insecurity in many regions. Under a worst-case climate scenario, an estimated 236 million additional women and girls could face food insecurity by 2050, compared with 131 million additional men and boys.
Women’s nutrition and health impact their ability to respond to shocks and stressors, pursue economic opportunities and cope with food shortages and illness. The structural inequities that constrain women’s access to essential services and resources also limit their ability to adopt climate-resilient practices, such as agroforestry or irrigation. Climate shocks can increase unpaid labour burdens, disrupt access to health and nutrition services and reduce women's ability to invest in their own health and well-being. The resulting loss of income, productivity and resilience can deepen household poverty and undermine nutrition and health outcomes.
From gender inclusion to gender transformation
Women must be centred as agents of change. Evidence increasingly shows that addressing structural barriers to women’s equity can improve nutrition, climate resilience and food system outcomes simultaneously. As shown in countries as diverse as Pakistan and Senegal, when women have equitable access to proven resources and opportunities, such as land, financing, climate information, self-help groups and gender-responsive social protection programmes, they are better able to strengthen livelihoods, protect their health and nutrition and build resilience to climate shocks.
The thematic report's analysis of 2025 Nutrition for Growth commitments shows how much work remains. Nearly 70% of commitments had no explicit connection to gender, and only 2% were classified as gender-transformative, meaning they sought to address the underlying systemic causes of inequity, such as the imbalanced power dynamics and relationships that create and perpetuate gender inequity.
Lasting impacts in nutrition and climate action will require moving beyond gender awareness toward genuine gender transformation. Centring women as agents of change across food, health and climate systems will require transformative policies that enable women to participate fully in and shape more resilient systems that improve healthy diets. Achieving structural change requires more than targeting women in a programme; it necessitates addressing the underlying norms and power imbalances that shape who has access to resources, whose knowledge counts and who makes decisions.
Integrating gender equity into the systems that support improved nutrition will ensure that evidence-based food system strategies can deliver the greatest gains for both people and planet.