It imposes costs not only on women themselves, but on the agriculture sector, the broader economy and society as a whole. Closing the gender gap in agriculture would generate significant gains for the agriculture sector ■ and for society. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has warned that the current dominant model of food production cannot meet the food security challenges of the 21 st century and that food production systems need to become more sustainable, inclusive and resilient (FAO 2015a, FAO, IFAD and WFP 2015, FAO 2015c). The negative environmental impacts of current agricultural practices include soil erosion and damaged soil structure, altered food web structure and function, contamination of the atmosphere, soil, groundwater and surface waters, deforestation to meet new needs for farmland, nitrogen and phosphorous losses to the ocean and inland water bodies, resulting in algal blooms and reduced fishery resources and biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, disrupted marine food webs, and unsustainable water use (UNEP 2012).