Women farmers produce about half the world’s food, while still more women work in ancillary industries packing, transporting, storing and selling food. And they do this despite having to navigate obstacles created for them specifically because they are women.
This is why the United States introduced a Resolution in the United Nations General Assembly to declare the year 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer. On May 2, the UN General Assembly passed this Resolution.
“Of all the women in the world, in the global labor force, two-fifths work in agrifood systems,” said United States Permanent Representative to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield. “In many regions that number is even higher, with more than two in three women in the labor force working in agrifood systems in sub-Saharan Africa and in South Asia.”
“They farm with less financial backing, less technology, less education, less cultural and governmental support than their male counterparts. This lack of training, and resources, and support doesn’t just hamper women farmers’ productivity, it holds back progress on every Sustainable Development Goal: from combating climate change, to ensuring economic stability, to fighting food insecurity, which disproportionately affects women and girls,” she said,
“By establishing 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer,” said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield, “the international community has chosen to call attention to the challenges women in agriculture continue to face, and the ways in which governments, civil society, the private sector, and other stakeholders can help close the gender gap and get us closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”
“We aim to increase awareness of women’s roles in farming and lack of secure land tenure that continues to hinder far too many of them. To better understand the financial and technological needs of women farmers and ensure access to credit and markets, education and technology. To support changes in policies and social norms that empower women farmers and share best practices,” she said.
“Ultimately, food security is national security. Food security is economic security. And, above all, food security is a moral imperative. As President Biden has said, ‘If parents cannot feed their children, nothing else matters,’” said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield.
“Today, a perfect storm of climate and conflict has driven tens of millions more people into hunger,” said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield.
“But in the fight against food insecurity, we have a powerful tool: and that is women farmers.”
