Rural women play a crucial role in the management of natural resources and the wellbeing and livelihood of rural households and communities. They account for a significant proportion of the labour force in food systems, working as farmers, harvesters and collectors, seed keepers, fisherfolks, wage earners and entrepreneurs. In Uganda, women make up 45% of the agricultural labour force. However, women in rural areas tend to sustain an even heavier workload due to the out-migration of men. The lack of infrastructure in many areas, including for water and sanitation, and other productive resources and assets, requires that biomass fuels and water are collected, and food materials processed manually.

Rural women’s contributions are also essential for conserving biodiversity as they play a leading role as ecosystem managers. They are guardians and defenders of water, seeds, forests, territories and ecosystems. Through local knowledge and experience, rural women often understand their environment and their community's needs better than anyone else. They pass on traditional knowledge in medicinal plants, and they contribute significantly to sustaining agriculture, food security, nutrition and health.

Women's rights to water are fundamental human rights that are essential for health, safety, and dignity. Women and girls are often excluded from access to water and sanitation, which can threaten their rights. Access to water and sanitation are human rights. Where females are unable to enjoy those rights, their health is profoundly affected, curtailing their educational and economic opportunities, and denying them their full role in society. Without safely managed water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, women and girls are more vulnerable to abuse, attack and ill-health, affecting their ability to study, work and live in dignity. Improvements to WASH at home, school, work and in public spaces support gender equity. Women and girls must play a central role in designing and implementing solutions, so that services respond to their specific needs.

Women and girls usually have the responsibility of fetching water. This can be a dangerous, time-consuming and physically demanding task. Long journeys by foot, often more than once a day, can leave women and girls vulnerable to attack and often precludes them from school or earning an income.

For women and girls, sanitation is about personal safety. Having to go to the toilet outside or sharing facilities with men and boys puts women and girls at increased risk of abuse and assault.Women and girls have specific hygiene needs. A clean, functional, lockable, gender-segregated space is needed, with access to sanitary products and disposal systems, for women and girls to manage menstrual hygiene and pregnancy.

Lack of safely managed water and sanitation is an equality issue. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by poor water, sanitation and hygiene services and facilities. However, their voices and needs are often absent in the design and implementation of improvements, thereby ensuring their continued marginalization.

Women's rights and food are closely linked, as gender inequality can lead to food insecurity. Women's rights to food include access to resources, land, and knowledge, as well as the right to work and earn a living. Food insecurity and its impact on livelihoods are creating ripple effects for women and girls, including health and safety risks, increased sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and decreasing access to education. Women are forced to bear the double burden of employment and household responsibilities, having to become breadwinners as their husbands migrate in search of alternative means of subsistence. SAPNET supports Women leading the response to the food crisis in Uganda.

Women’s rights advocates play critical roles in contributing to improved food security, not only because women are custodians of food and food preparation in their households, but because of their roles as advocates for more gender-responsive food systems and equal land rights. It is essential that women civil society leaders take on leadership roles in humanitarian food assistance to ensure inclusive and gender-responsive policies, planning and response to the hunger crisis. They must be enabled to promote and support women’s access to all productive resources and to apply a gender lens to the impacts of conflicts on food security.