Women make important and growing contributions to food production, processing, marketing and retailing, and other parts of the food system. Within the household, women traditionally bear the primary responsibility for preparing meals and caring for children and other family members, although men are assuming more responsibilities for these roles in many societies. Gender differences in the rights, resources and responsibilities - particularly resources necessary for achieving food and nutrition security for and within the household and responsibilities for food provisioning and caretaking - often impede the achievement of household food and nutrition security.