《The Impact of China’s Agricultural Overseas Investment on Gender Equality》

发布时间：2018-02-02

发布单位：SynTao

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With the support of Ford Foundation Beijing Office, SynTao completed the research project and published the present report of 

The Impact of China’s Agricultural Overseas Investment on Gender Equality.

With the continuous acceleration of China's "going global" strategy and the Belt and Road Initiative, China's agricultural overseas investment enterprises (CAOIEs) are faced with increasingly serious social responsibility risks despite the rapid growth. Paying attention to gender equality and improving gender equality issue management capabilities to cope with stakeholder demands are of great significance for CAOIEs to fulfill their social responsibilities, avoid related investment risks, and create a favorable business environment.

Through in-depth research of CAOIEs, this report takes a systematic overview of the management of and practices related to gender equality issues that occur when CAOIEs invest overseas. We found that CAOIEs promote local economic and social development by boosting local farmers' incomes, providing training and building infrastructure, so as to bene t women farmers and local residents in three major areas of the economy: medical, healthcare, and education.

At the same time, however, CAOIEs still have a very limited awareness of and give little attention to gender equality issues and lack the recognition of the impact of these issues on risk and opportunity, the two key factors relevant to the sustainable operation of enterprises. Without an up to date perspective on gender, CAOIEs will carry out business operations that will fail to bene t local women, and in some cases even widen the already existing gender gap in local areas.

Agricultural enterprises' workplaces, products, and their communities are closely related to women's interests as they provide women with work opportunities and development space and also empower women. They are of great significance for corporate and local economic development. Based on the analysis of the investment practices of CAOIEs that invest in Laos and Cambodia, we think that CAOIEs in the future should pay more attention to the important relationship that women's issues have with sustainable corporate development. The enterprises should actively respond to the challenges posed by these gender-related issues and turn challenges into opportunities.