Opinion: Why Agriculture Cannot Afford to Overlook Women Farmers

Imagine a team where only half the players receive training, equipment and support. That team cannot perform at its full potential. The same is true in agriculture. Women farmers are essential across Europe and Central Asia. They grow food, raise livestock, run farms and sustain rural economies. They work the same land as men, share responsibility for farms and support their families, yet too often their work is treated as secondary, invisible or merely “helping”. As a result, they may not have the same access to the training, resources and opportunities needed to make their hard work more productive. When women cannot fulfil their potential as farmers, agriculture cannot fulfil its potential either. The International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 brings renewed global attention to women’s essential contribution to agriculture. As part of the Year, FAO’s “100 Women Heroes in Agrifood Systems and Rural Development” initiative is honouring twenty‑five women from across the region for their achievements, innovation, resilience and leadership. But beyond these individual success stories lies a reality that can’t be overlooked. Countless women do the same indispensable work every day without equal recognition, resources or opportunities. The cost of these inequalities is also economic. FAO estimates that closing gender gaps in farm productivity and wages could generate nearly USD 1 trillion in global gains and reduce food insecurity for up to 45 million people. Across Europe and Central Asia, there has been considerable progress in strengthening the legal and policy frameworks that promote equal opportunities for women and men, but these need translating into real improvements in rural women’s lives. In agriculture and rural development, persistent gender gaps limit women’s productivity and fulfilment of potential as individuals and farmers. Social expectations and discriminatory practices reinforce these barriers, shaping who is seen as a farmer, who makes decisions and who controls income and productive resources. Even when women play a central role in farming, their work is often undervalued, unpaid or simply invisible. They lack essential support to grow farms and businesses, and young women are often discouraged from farming as a viable career or taking on farm management. Closing these gaps requires sector‑specific policies and actions that explicitly recognize women as farmers and entrepreneurs. For example, governments can ensure that agricultural statistics systematically capture women’s contributions; enable women’s registration as farmers in their own right; and guarantee that extension and rural advisory services reach women as well as men. Such measures will strengthen women’s access to land, finance, inputs, technology, knowledge and markets – while sending a clear institutional signal that women should be recognized as farmers. The next challenge is to ensure that recognition translates into policies, institutions and services that respond to women farmers’ realities, needs and aspirations. This is particularly important in Europe and Central Asia, where rural areas face the growing pressures of climate change, water scarcity, increasing strain on natural resources, ageing populations and young people leaving rural areas. These pressures do not affect everyone equally. When women have less access to agricultural training – including...