Who gets to grow? Gender, markets, and the future of food systems
Rights and opportunities that many of us take for granted, like the right to vote, access to education, the ability to own property, or earn and control income, were won because people dared to challenge systems that seemed unchangeable. Yet for millions of women around the world, these rights remain out of reach.
Trini Aritzia
IDH Program Director, Gender
Globally, 2.4 billion women still do not have the same legal economic rights as men, according to the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law report. Millions of girls remain out of school, an estimated 130 million globally, according to UNESCO. In many countries, women still face barriers to owning land, accessing finance, working freely, or participating safely in economic life.
These inequalities have profound implications for economic systems, particularly in agriculture and food systems.
Women are not just participants in agriculture. They are central to it. Globally, women make up roughly 36-43% of the global agricultural workforce, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In many countries across Africa and Asia, women account for nearly half of the agricultural labour. In Latin America and the Caribbean, women play critical roles across smallholder farming, food processing, rural enterprises and export value chains, even though their contributions are often under-recognised or informal.
Yet systemic barriers persist. Women face limited access to land, productive inputs, agricultural training, finance, and leadership opportunities. Globally, women own less than 15% of agricultural land (FAO).
Finance gaps are significant. Women entrepreneurs face a $1.7 trillion financing gap worldwide, according to the International Finance Corporation. Many women farmers lack access to credit, insurance, and financial services that would allow them to invest in their farms, adopt new technologies, or participate fully in agricultural value chains.
Education and technical skills remain critical obstacles. Women and girls often have fewer opportunities to access the training, extension services, and digital tools that shape modern agricultural economies.
Labour conditions compound inequality. Women earn on average about 20% less than men (International Labour Organization). They are more likely to work in informal, seasonal, or lower-paid roles across agricultural supply chains. Leadership and decision-making positions within cooperatives, producer organisations, and agribusinesses remain limited.
On top of that, in many contexts, women also face unsafe working environments, including harassment or a lack of respect in workplaces and communities. Women are particularly exposed to sexual harassment and gender-based violence, and studies show that such abuse can be widespread in agricultural settings.
Climate change intensifies these challenges. Women, often with fewer resources and less access to climate-resilient technologies, are disproportionately vulnerable to climate shocks, even as they play a critical role in strengthening the resilience of food systems.
When these barriers persist, it is not only women who lose.
Markets lose productivity.
Food systems lose resilience.
Businesses lose innovation and leadership.
FAO estimates that closing the gender gap in access to agricultural resources could increase farm yields by 20-30%, boosting food security and rural livelihoods.
At IDH, our work on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion focuses on addressing these barriers within agricultural value chains and market systems. We work to strengthen gender awareness and intentionality in how programs are designed, partnerships are formed, and investments are directed. This reflects a simple but important insight: Gender outcomes do not happen automatically. Building this awareness is an essential step toward addressing the structural barriers that continue to limit women’s participation in agricultural markets.
The opportunity now is to translate this into tangible change: Expanding women’s access to finance, strengthening technical skills, improving working conditions and safety, and supporting women’s leadership across agricultural value chains.
Rights and markets are not competing agendas. They reinforce each other.
Ensuring that women participate in food systems with agency, safety, and dignity builds stronger value chains, more resilient rural economies, and better outcomes for farmers, workers, and businesses alike.
History shows us that systems can change. Progress toward gender equality has never been driven by women alone. Allies have always played an important role. People who used their voice and influence to challenge norms, open doors, and help systems evolve.
And the food systems we shape today will determine the opportunities available to the next generation.
Some women today benefit from rights won by those who came before them. Our responsibility is to ensure that the systems we shape expand those rights and opportunities for women everywhere.
The question, then, is not whether gender equality matters for agriculture and food systems. It clearly does. The real question is what kind of markets we want to build.
As we mark International Women’s Day and look ahead to the United Nations’ International Year of the Woman Farmer, this is a moment to reflect on the systems we are shaping and the opportunities they create.