Women Farmers
Jane Hawara, 57, grows maize on her portion of communal land in Rumphi District, Malawi.
Photo: Graeme Williams/Panos Pictures/ActionAid
Women smallholder farmers in many countries are responsible for not only producing the food but also feeding their families and communities. Yet, they face multiple constraints in ensuring their food security.
Women work in agriculture as farmers of their own land, as unpaid workers on family farms and as paid or unpaid labourers on other large farms and agricultural enterprises. However, women’s contribution to agriculture is underestimated as many surveys and censuses count only paid labour and do not adequately reflect the extent and nature of women’s multiple roles in agricultural production and food security.
Women’s role in agriculture differs region by region, but in many cases, women and men have distinctly different tasks and responsibilities based on gender. Women are often regarded as “invisible” helpers that work alongside men without appropriate right to resources or decision-making. When deprived of access to, ownership of agricultural resources and inputs, women are left without the means to sustain their livelihoods, and this perpetuates their social, economic and political inequalities.
- Women make up60% of the chronically hungryand food price increases hit them the hardest.
- Women smallholders comprise an average of43% of the agricultural labour force of developing countries.
- Every year 115,000 maternal deaths worldwideare associated with iron deficiency, caused by malnutrition.
- The FAO estimates thatremoving gender inequalitiesin agriculture couldreduce the number of hungry people in the world by 100–150 million.
Women in our society are not recognised and are treated like dirt. when the land was registered in my name, it was the first step for me to free myself from male domination. Now I live with dignity. I feel I am respected by others.
- Pichakarachi, 45, agricultural labourer and widdow in Vilipuram District, Tamil Nadu, India
ActionAid and our supporters are working alongside women smallholder farmers, raising awareness of their rights and empowering them through various livelihood programmes, including sustainable agriculture . We are also advocating for increased and improved public financing for agriculture especially for women smallholder farmers so as to close the gender gap.
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