third and most significantly it is important to build up womens agency and capabilities to create better synergies between gender equality and sustainable development outcomes ensuring womens access to and control over agricultural assets and productive resources is important for achieving food security and sustainable livelihoods food and agriculture organization of the united nations fao womens knowledge agency and collective action are central to finding demonstrating and building more economically socially and environmentally sustainable pathways to manage local landscapes adapt to climate change produce and access food and secure sustainable water sanitation and energy services further certain aspects of gender equality such as female education and womens share of employment can have a positive impact on economic growth although this impact is dependent on the nature of growth strategies the structure of the economy the sectoral composition of womens employment and labour market segregation among other factors kabeer and natali