OPINION | International Year Of The Woman Farmer: Moving Women Up The Value Chain |
By: Shoba Suri and Sharon Sarah Thawaney
Across much of the Global South, agriculture has become increasingly woman-intensive. Women make up 36 per cent of the global agricultural workforce, with participation exceeding 50 per cent in large parts of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The UN’s theme for International Women’s Day 2026, “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls,” highlights the need to translate recognition into agency, a call reinforced by the designation of 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer. Despite driving the bulk of production, women occupy the segments of the value chain with the least control, limiting their ability to influence markets, investment and sectoral priorities.
Where Women Stand in the Value Chain
Women remain concentrated in the lower segments of these chains, which are labour-intensive and generate low returns. The feminisation of agriculture, driven in part by male out-migration and structural transformation, has expanded women’s responsibilities in smallholder farming. These smallholders account for the majority of the world’s farmers and produce roughly half of global food.
Their role is similarly pronounced in post-harvest handling, processing and storage, where they perform nearly half of such labour in low- and middle-income countries. However, these activities are frequently informal, characterised by low capital intensity and limited integration with formal markets. In Nigeria’s Delta State, for instance, women undertake up to 90 per cent of cassava processing but exercise........