The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed the resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to declare 2026 as International Year of Woman Farmer.
The resolution, which was proposed by the United States of America (US) and adopted by consensus, invites FAO, in collaboration with the other UN agencies, to facilitate the implementation and observance of the International Year of Woman Farmer.
It also invites UN member states, other international organisations and stakeholders, including civil society, private sector and academia, to increase awareness of the crucial role that women farmers play in agri-food systems, as well as their contributions to food security, nutrition and poverty eradication.
The year will serve as a platform for the adoption of effective policies and actions against the barriers and challenges that women farmers face across agri-food systems.
It will also promote gender equality and the empowerment of all women in agriculture.
Challenges if you are a woman farmer
FAO’s recent report, ‘The Status of Women in Agrifood Systems’, offers insights into gender dynamics across agri-food systems.
It emphasised women’s participation in socio-economic opportunities and has called on all actors to close significant gaps in women’s productivity and wages, and work to empower women working in agri-food systems.
It also reaffirmed FAO’s commitment to deepen its focus on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
This includes advocating for policy frameworks that seek to address social norms and structural constraints and utilising gender-transformative approaches to a greater extent in projects and programming for inclusive rural development.
The report found that despite comprising 39% of the global agricultural labour force, women encounter significant discrimination, confronting 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.
It calls for global commitment to address these disparities to enhance food security, drive economic prosperity, and advance gender equality within agri-food systems.
Another recent FAO report, ‘The Unjust Climate’, presents an analysis of the impacts of climate change on rural populations, with a particular focus on vulnerable groups such as women, youth, and individuals living in poverty.
Drawing on data from 24 countries across five world regions, the report integrates socio-economic indicators with geo-referenced climate data, providing insights into how climate stressors affect incomes, labour allocations, and adaptive strategies.
It finds, for instance, that a 1°C increase in long-term average temperatures is associated with a 34% reduction in the total incomes of female-headed households, relative to those of male-headed households.
In commemorating the International Year of the Woman Farmer in 2026, FAO stated that it acknowledges the pivotal role of rural women in global agri-food systems and commits to addressing the challenges they face.
