Empowering women, empowering food chains

Women play vital roles across agricultural systems. Throughout history, farming has primarily been a family activity which has relied on women to support the production of crops for good health and livelihoods. Despite agriculture being seen as been a male dominated industry, it is estimated that women make up 43% of the global agricultural labour force. Despite their vital contribution to the sector, women still face significant barriers including limited land ownership, unequal pay, and lack of access to credit and education. In developing countries, only 10-20% of landholders are women, and in some places, women still cannot legally own or control land.

The crucial role female farmers play is evidenced by research highlighting that if they had access to the same resources as men could increase food production by up to 30%, potentially eliminating hunger for 150 million people. Doing this would not only bring important security to global food chains, it would make agricultural communities more inclusive, sustainable and resilient to economic shocks too.

At UPL, we’re working across the world to support the empowerment of women farmers. Advanta, UPL’s seed subsidiary, has been empowering female farmers with access to seeds, agricultural resources, and climate-smart technologies. In Indonesia, where women form the majority of growers in rural communities, Advanta has supported communities with residue-free vegetables and training for female leaders contributing to their own land. In Tanzania we’ve partnered with the FAO and UN Women, alongside regional and national organisations, to deliver uplifting training programs and 1kg of climate-resistant hybrid sunflower seeds to hundreds of female farmers.

Staying in Africa, our Galela Kakuhle stewardship program for southern Africa is supporting sustainable agripractices as well as gender empowerment, with women making up more than 70% of the farmers trained. Meanwhile, in West and Central Africa the UPL Women's Network has played a crucial role in the fight against breast and uterine cancer with numerous events and activities in Cameroon, Mali, and Côte d'Ivoire.

And in India, our ag-tech subsidiary nurture.farm has been leading a highly successful ‘Women in Agriculture’ project which is providing equal opportunities for women – with almost all of their field partners (Krishi Mitras) in Haryana comprising of women.