Gender equality is shrewd economics as well as a human right, the World Bank said...in a report that showed countries with better opportunities for women and girls can boost productivity and development...The report cited the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization's estimates that equal access to resources for female farmers could increase agricultural output in poorer countries by up to 4 percent. It also said eliminating barriers preventing women working in certain occupations would cut the productivity gap between male and female workers by a third to a half, and increase output per worker by 3 to 25 percent in some countries...Significant gains in gender equality have been made in recent years. Women now represent 40 percent of the global labor force, 43 percent of the agricultural labor force, and more than half of university students, according to the report. Over half a billion women have joined the workforce in the last 30 years, it added.