Olga Babayeva, a 52-year-old farmer from Samukh region in northwestern Azerbaijan, is a well-recognized businesswoman in her community. Apart from being the biggest producer of vegetable seeds for onions, coriander, dill, radishes and parsley, among others, she is also known for her strong support of women’s engagement in farming. 

She was attracted to farm life as a young child, spending her summer holidays helping her parents plant vegetables. In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a nineteen-year-old Olga became the first young female farmer in Fuzuli village when she started renting a 10-hectare plot to grow beetroot.