International year of the woman farmer
In fields and forests, in markets and kitchens, women farmers hold many roles across every corner of agri-food systems. They feed families, sustain ecosystems, and hold generations of knowledge about the land. Yet the systems within which they operate are often not wired to support them, and they continue to face significant barriers, including limited access to and control over productive resources such as land and other natural resources, technology, and finance.
The UN has declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF), with the aim of shedding light on the essential roles that women farmers play in agriculture and showcasing actions that help close the gender gap. IYWF aims to raise awareness and promote actions to close the gender gaps and improve the livelihoods of rural women.
The status quo
To understand the realities of women farmers
Read FAO's The status of women in agri-food systems report
Diverse roles require contextualised solutions
SNV works alongside women farmers across Africa and Asia to overcome the barriers that limit their agency and economic potential. We aim to empower the women farmers we work with to realise their basic rights, secure decent work, successfully establish and grow their businesses or increase their agricultural productivity, income, and resilience.
Women farmer's roles across agri-food systems are diverse, and so are the barriers they face. Working across the globe comes with the responsibility of recognising that diversity and the ability to tailor solutions accordingly. We design our approaches around the specific contexts, challenges, and strengths of the women we work with, ensuring our support is grounded in local realities.
Women farmers are carriers of Indigenous knowledge
Across agri-food systems, women farmers hold centuries of traditional knowledge about the land they tend. Yet this knowledge is too frequently overlooked in modern agricultural approaches.
When communities collaborate with women farmers to co-create knowledge and recognise traditional and Indigenous practices, they bridge generations and cultures. Placing women at the centre of knowledge transmission strengthens both ecological restoration and community resilience.
The K'Ho ethnic minority in Vietnam has practised nomadic upland cultivation for generations, but global demand for coffee has disrupted their way of life. CAFÉ REDD builds on the K'Ho's traditional bòn administrative system to ensure women co-design restoration interventions, simultaneously revitalising traditional income streams and mitigating deforestation pressures.
As climate threats intensify, K'Ho women remind us that when those most connected to the land help shape solutions, restoration becomes more than ecological recovery. It becomes a movement for justice.
Women farmers are young innovators
Rural young women frequently face specific challenges in accessing resources due to generational and gendered power dynamics. Greater unpaid and domestic care responsibilities contribute to keeping young women out of education, employment, and training.
Training young women farmers in agroecological approaches unlocks their potential as innovators and community leaders, bridging traditional knowledge with modern farming practices to build more sustainable food systems.
In Gathinja Village, Murang'a County, 26-year-old Fridah Wanjiku Irungu is one of a new generation reshaping how food is grown in Kenya. Trained through the Greener Greens Project, she has built a thriving, fully organic vegetable enterprise using locally available materials and techniques to improve soil fertility, increase yields, and reduce production costs. "The demand for organically grown vegetables is at an all-time high," she says. "Nobody wants to eat vegetables pumped with chemicals." As consumers increasingly choose organic produce, young innovative farmers like Fridah are perfectly placed to lead that shift, inspiring change in their communities and beyond.
Women farmers are rightful stewards of the land they work
Women farmers work the land every day, yet formal ownership remains out of reach for too many. Less than 15% of women in Sub-Saharan Africa own land, limiting their ability to secure loans, invest in productivity, and make long-term decisions about the soil they tend.
Securing women’s land rights strengthens agri-food systems. When women gain access to and control over the land they work on, their empowerment, investment capacity, and resilience all grow. Having access to resources increases the productivity of their land, contributing to food security and broader rural development.
In Kalambo District in Tanzania's Rukwa Region, that change is taking shape. Supported by Sustain Eco, more than 350 community members joined open discussions on land rights and the process of obtaining Customary Certificates of Right of Occupancy (CCROs). Awareness turned into action: surveys across more than 2,000 hectares resulted in over 300 CCROs issued, of which 147 were owned solely by women and 98 jointly by couples. Cultural attitudes are shifting too, as more men are encouraging joint registration, and young people are growing up understanding that land rights belong to both parents. While Tanzania has progressive land laws, implementation gaps remain, particularly in rural areas where awareness of rights is limited and navigating administrative processes can be difficult. Initiatives like this help bridge that gap by linking legal frameworks to local practice.
Women are leaders in their communities
Despite their essential role in agri-food systems, women farmers often face more precarious working conditions than men. Their work is often irregular, informal, part-time, low-waged, and labour-intensive. They are frequently excluded from the decision-making spaces that shape their own livelihoods.
When women join forces through cooperatives and associations, they increase their market access, reduce barriers, and step into leadership roles—turning their struggle into shared solutions.
When Harareta Maïga was widowed ten years ago, she turned personal hardship into collective purpose. Recognising that other women in her village faced the same challenges, she founded KAMONO EJUKO (meaning 'We speak the same language' in the Dogon language), linking 33 women through collective savings. With support from Pro-ARIDES, the association received training on managing collective funds and investing in small enterprises. Today, Harareta leads by example, producing sheep meat, processing fonio and tamarind juice, generating around €480 a month, enough to cover her children's education and daily needs.
Women farmers are active decision makers in their households
Despite working the land every day, women farmers are frequently excluded from the decisions that shape how it is managed. This exclusion is rooted in deeply entrenched gendered power dynamics that limit women's voices at both the household and community levels.
Amplifying women's decision-making power requires solutions that provide access to training and facilitate open conversations at the household and community levels to shift attitudes, build shared responsibility, and ensure women's contributions are recognised.
In Busanga, a village in eastern Uganda, Wabaire Annet, 44, and her husband, Abedinego Waiswa, 52, for years relied on sugarcane, which offered them little food security. Decisions about sales rested almost entirely with her husband. Through conversations at home and within their community, guided by a Participatory Integrated Planning approach, that began to shift. Discussions about nutrition, school fees, and soil exhaustion encouraged the family to see farming as a shared responsibility—and Abedinego to see Annet as a partner in decision-making. Removing the sugarcane was a major decision, but it allowed them to rebuild their plot together. Bananas, beans, vegetables, and fodder grasses now thrive where one crop once dominated. When women have a seat at the table, families find better solutions for their households and farms.
Women farmers are bankable entrepreneurs
Women-led agri-businesses face disproportionate barriers to accessing finance, markets, and technology. These barriers are not a reflection of capability, but rather of systems that were rarely designed with women in mind. When access to finance is unlocked, the impact reaches far beyond a single entrepreneur.
Facilitating access to finance and markets tailored to the realities of women in agriculture demonstrates that women-led enterprises are viable, scalable, and worthy of serious investment.
In Nepal, where pickles hold a cherished place on dining tables, Basu Maya Tamang built Nepali Mann Udyog Ltd from the ground up, producing handmade pickles using Indigenous methods. "It took me, as a single woman, considerable time and many challenges to establish the company. I am where I am today after more than 15 years of struggle," she explains. Her persistence is now being recognised beyond her community. With a total business size of €1.5 million, the company has secured an application for a €500,000 investment from NMB Bank, a DFCD partner. For the 90% female workforce she employs, it is proof that when women-led agri-businesses gain access to finance, the women around them gain opportunity too.
