The United Nations designated 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer, with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) leading campaign activity. The observance recognizes women’s work throughout agrifood systems and calls for action on unequal access to land, finance, technology, services and decision-making—not just recognition of women who own crop farms.
What is the International Year of the Woman Farmer?
The UN General Assembly declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer in resolution A/RES/78/279. FAO says the observance is intended to raise awareness of women’s roles across agrifood systems, highlight the challenges they face, encourage policy and investment, and promote action to close gender gaps and improve livelihoods. The FAO campaign page invites governments, cities, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, journalists, civil society groups and individuals to participate.
Who counts as a woman farmer?
FAO uses a broad, value-chain view: women farmers include women working in agrifood systems, not only land-owning crop producers. Its Markets and Trade division identifies roles such as producers, smallholder and family farmers, seasonal laborers, fishers and fish workers, pastoralists, beekeepers, foresters, processors, traders, agricultural scientists and rural entrepreneurs. The scope also includes formal and informal workers and holders of traditional knowledge.
This matters because a woman can contribute to food production and rural economies without owning a farm or appearing in a narrow definition of agricultural employment. Processing, trading, fishing, forestry and wage labor are part of the same wider system.
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Why are women farmers being recognized in 2026?
Women do a substantial share of agricultural work while often having less access to the assets and decisions that shape its rewards. The UN’s Rural Women’s Day page says women made up close to 40% of the global agricultural labor force in 2023. The same page reports that women own about 15% of agricultural land; it does not state a year for that figure. These are distinct measures, not a direct comparison of the same population or period.
The UN page also says women earn 82 cents for every dollar men earn in agricultural wage employment, citing a recent FAO report. That comparison concerns wage employment; it should not be read as a universal pay ratio across all agricultural work. The page does not identify the report’s publication year.
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What barriers do women farmers face?
FAO’s global overview describes overlapping barriers, while recognizing that conditions vary by country and subsector. Work may be irregular, informal, part-time, low-waged and labor-intensive. Women can face unequal access to land, services, capital, inputs, education and technology, alongside less power in household, community and sector-level decisions.
Land and financial access
FAO identifies land tenure as a central challenge. Secure rights can affect a woman’s ability to make decisions about land and invest in it. Gaps in access to capital and financial services can also limit the ability to obtain inputs, improve production or build a business.
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Technology, services and education
Limited access to appropriate technology, education and services—including agricultural extension—can restrict productivity and opportunities to adapt. Access is not only about whether a service exists: its cost, availability, relevance and accessibility to women working different roles all matter.
Workload, climate stress and decision-making
FAO says extreme heat, extreme precipitation and drought can increase women’s work burden more than men’s. Its overview also points to unequal decision-making power. These pressures can compound one another: added work and limited influence over resources can make it harder to respond to shocks.
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FAO presents the Year as a prompt for legal reform, policy changes and investment—not a single program or solution. At the campaign launch, FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero called for “bringing policy attention to the multidimensional challenges they (women farmers) face, and promoting legal reforms and policy and programmatic action that allow women to have equal land rights, equal access to finance, to technology, extension services, markets, and decision-making.” The words are an excerpt from his launch remarks, as reproduced in the FAO launch release.
FAO’s policy rationale connects stronger land rights and access to services with sustainability, resilience and bargaining power. It says closing gaps in land, finance, technology, education and decision-making can support household well-being, productivity and climate resilience. For governments, funders and organizations assessing an intervention, useful questions include:
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- Does it strengthen women’s secure land rights, rather than only provide short-term access?
- Does it improve practical access to finance, technology, extension services and markets?
- Can women influence decisions and hold leadership roles in the relevant institutions or projects?
- Does it address decent work and social protection for women in informal, seasonal or wage employment?
- Does it help women prepare for or withstand climate stress?
These are policy considerations drawn from FAO’s stated barriers and action areas, not a ranking of particular programs. The UN Rural Women’s Day page also describes the Joint Programme on Accelerating Progress towards the Economic Empowerment of Rural Women, run by FAO, IFAD, WFP and UN Women and focused on social, economic and political empowerment. Its page is informational; check current local services and eligibility before treating it as a source of assistance.
What the observance can—and cannot—do
A designated year can bring attention to women’s contributions and help put policy commitments on the agenda. The designation itself does not guarantee that land rights, wages, services or access to finance will change. The lasting measure is whether recognition leads to legal and institutional reforms, resources and decisions that improve women’s conditions across the agrifood system.
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