Women working in a groundnut field in Lodwar, Turkana Country, Kenya.
Photo: © FAO / Vincent Tremeau

Women

2026 declared International Year of the Woman Farmer

By shining a spotlight on women’s role in farming across the world, the International Year of the Woman Farmer will also raise awareness of constraints women face in areas including property rights and land tenure, access to credit and markets, and lack of technical and educational support.

In early May 2024, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared the year 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer. The resolution was proposed by the US A and adopted by consensus. It aims to increase awareness of the crucial role that women farmers around the world play in agrifood systems, as well as their contributions to food security, nutrition and poverty eradication.

The International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 will serve as a platform for the adoption of effective policies and actions against the barriers and challenges that women farmers face across agrifood systems, as well as to promote gender equality and the empowerment of all women in agriculture.

The observance will also highlight the vital role of peasant women and other rural women in ensuring the economic survival of their families and contributing to both the rural and national economies.

Women are responsible for roughly half of the world’s food production, and in many countries they produce between 60 and 80 per cent of the food. Yet globally, the prevalence of food insecurity is higher among women than among men. 

Despite comprising 39 per cent of the global agricultural labour force, women encounter significant discrimination, challenges in land and livestock ownership, access to quality and secure jobs, equitable pay, participation in decision-making processes, and accessing credit and financial services, according to the The Status of Women in Agrifood Systems, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2023.

In commemorating the International Year of the Woman Farmer in 2026, FAO acknowledges the pivotal role of rural women in global agrifood systems and commits to addressing the challenges they face. Through concerted efforts and collaboration among Member States, UN entities, civil society, academia, the private sector, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, individuals and other actors, the Year will strive to raise awareness, implement concrete actions and pave the way for more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems.

(FAO/ile)

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