FAO names 2026 ‘International Year of the Woman Farmer’

WEB DESK: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has launched the “International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026” to acknowledge the crucial yet often overlooked contributions women make to agriculture worldwide. This initiative seeks to raise awareness of women’s role in agrifood systems and push for efforts to address persistent gender disparities.

Women account for a significant portion of the global agricultural workforce, participating in all stages of agrifood value chains, from production to distribution. They are also key to ensuring food security and nutrition at the household level. In 2021, women made up 40 per cent of the global agrifood workforce, nearly matching the number of men.

However, despite their essential role, women’s contributions are frequently undervalued, and their work conditions tend to be more unstable and poorly paid. Many women work in irregular, informal, part-time, and labor-intensive jobs, making them highly vulnerable. Furthermore, women face systemic barriers, such as limited access to land, finance, technology, education, and decision-making positions.

In Pakistan, approximately 74 per cent of women involved in the workforce are employed in agriculture, which generates about 40 per cent of household income. However, the challenges faced by female farmers are often underreported and inadequately addressed.

A recent FAO report on women farmers in Pakistan stresses the need to reform labor and agricultural policies to officially recognize women working in all areas of agriculture—whether full-time, part-time, or on family-owned farms without land titles. The report advocates for establishing a minimum wage for women farmers and ensuring wage equality with male workers for equal work. It also calls for the allocation of unused land to landless women farmers, as well as access to water and input subsidies to promote sustainable livelihoods.

Designated by the UN General Assembly in 2024, the International Year of the Woman Farmer will focus on raising awareness of the challenges women farmers face and driving policy changes to enhance gender equality, empower women, and create more resilient agrifood systems. FAO, alongside other UN organizations like the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP), will coordinate activities throughout 2026.

Recent FAO reports, The Status of Women in Agrifood Systems and The Unjust Climate, reveal that women farmers typically cultivate smaller landholdings than men, resulting in a 24 per cent productivity gap, even when managing the same land size. Additionally, extreme heat reduces the value of crops produced by women farmers by 3 per cent more than it does for men.

Web Desk