On the International Women’s Day held in New Delhi, the World Agriculture Forum released report titled “Women in Agriculture: Roles, Challenges and Opportunities,” highlighting the critical role women play across agricultural systems while underscoring the need for stronger policy support and inclusive agricultural ecosystems.
The report synthesizes key insights and recommendations from a dialogue convened by the World Agriculture Forum (WAF) in the context of the International Year of the Woman Farmer. The forum brought together expertise from research, policy, law, climate action and field implementation to provide actionable perspectives for policymakers, development institutions, private sector stakeholders and practitioners seeking scalable, evidence-based approaches to gender-transformative change in agriculture.
The report states women constitute nearly 43% of the global agricultural workforce, yet they own less than 15% of agricultural land and continue to face barriers in access to finance, technology, markets and decision-making.
The WAF report stresses empowering women farmers is not only a matter of equity, it is essential for food security, climate resilience and sustainable development. When women have equal access to resources, productivity rises, communities prosper and food systems become more resilient.
As the world approaches the International Year of the Woman Farmer (2026), WAF calls for collective action to secure women’s land rights, strengthen leadership and design inclusive agricultural systems.
