In this article, agricultural economist Lesley Hope underscores the central role of women smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, who make up more than half of the region’s 33 million smallholders. Farming plots under two hectares, these women face barriers to land, finance, and equipment but carry deep knowledge of ecosystems, seeds, and traditional practices. Hope argues that agroecology offers a sustainable path for women to increase incomes while building climate resilience. Practices such as composting, mulching, intercropping, agroforestry, and integrating crops with livestock not only reduce dependency on chemical inputs but also strengthen food security, biodiversity, and nutrition at household and community levels. The article highlights women-led agroecological practices already thriving across the continent, from organic coffee cooperatives in East Africa to agroforestry in Senegal and Niger, conservation agriculture in Zimbabwe and Zambia, and bioenergy production in Mali and Ghana. Yet, women remain marginalized, often seen as farmers’ wives rather than farmers in their own right. Hope calls for policy measures to change this, including investments in agroecological markets, gender-sensitive processing hubs, and certification systems for organic produce.