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WAF Report highlights need to empower women farmers
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Tuesday, 10 March, 2026, 16 : 00 PM [IST]
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Netherlands
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On the eve of International Women’s Day, the World Agriculture Forum (WAF) released a significant report titled “Women in Agriculture: Roles, Challenges, and Opportunities,” highlighting the crucial contribution of women farmers to global agriculture and the persistent challenges they continue to face.
According to the report, women account for nearly 43 percent of the global agricultural workforce, playing a vital role in food production, rural livelihoods, and household nutrition. Despite their extensive participation, women own less than 15 percent of agricultural land globally, limiting their access to financial services, modern technology, markets, and decision-making platforms within the agricultural ecosystem.
The WAF report emphasises that addressing these structural inequalities is critical for strengthening global food security, climate resilience, and sustainable development. Empowering women farmers, the report states, can significantly improve productivity, enhance community resilience to climate change, and promote inclusive growth in rural economies.
To address these challenges, the report outlines several key recommendations for urgent global action. One of the primary suggestions is to secure women’s land and tenure rights, which would allow them to invest confidently in farming, access institutional credit, and adopt climate-resilient agricultural practices.
Another major recommendation is to design agricultural technologies in collaboration with women farmers. The report stresses that digital tools and climate-smart innovations must be inclusive and accessible to women in order to close the gender gap in agricultural productivity.
Additionally, WAF calls for strengthening women’s leadership across agri-food systems, recognising their central role in building resilient and sustainable food systems worldwide.
With the global community preparing for the International Year of the Woman Farmer in 2026, the forum has urged governments, development organisations, private sector stakeholders, and civil society groups to work collectively toward building more inclusive and equitable agricultural systems.
The report underscores that empowering women farmers is not only a matter of gender equality but also a critical step toward ensuring a sustainable and food-secure future for the world.
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