The three-year project, “Leaving No One Behind: Greater Involvement and Empowerment of Rural Women in Türkiye and Central Asia”, aims to improve the socio-economic status of rural women in Türkiye, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

At the onset of the project, Luisina Torres, an extension officer, worked with the family to analyse their current situation and identify their goals.

Participating women, coming from all over the country, shared their concerns regarding small-scale agricultural production and rural livelihood under continuous and increasing pressure of climate change.

Indigenous women’s knowledge is key to restoring ecosystems and building climate resilience

Like Maryam, over 900 000 people have already been displaced by the drought

“It’s like we are operating on a different level now,” explains Mamadiang. “All decisions are made as a family.”

Like most residents in her village, Salla depends on one of three deep water wells in her village.

The Indigenous women learned how to sundry the algae and extract agar, a jelly-like substance, from its walls to make soaps and cosmetics. ©FAO/Vanessa Olarte Maria says she’s already thrilled with the new skills she has learned.

Rose Ongalibang and some female neighbours started a slow food community exploring new uses of the traditional crop, taro.

Binta has served as a role model for others, proving that farmers embrace productive and sustainable farming practices when they have access to the land.

After attending the FAO Women’s Empowerment Farmer Business School, Agnes Rehema Chisiwa has become a successful entrepreneur.

Along with Gender and Youth sensitisation and capacity building activities over 3000 girls of 16 years and above have been trained as lead farmers.

As a result of her experiences, she knows very well the difficulties women face in agriculture as she had to go through many of them.

Irene says, “You have to remember that Fiji has 300 islands so how do you have people access information?”

Nantongo Mary is a member of the Agali Awamu group, a cooperative which also took part in the project.

The JP RWEE programme has empowered Ramkali to make her own choices and take a leadership role in her community.

For Loyda, steady and reliable milk production means the world, allowing her to pay for other essential needs, like children’s school fees and house maintenance expenses.

The Rural Women’s Roundtable constitutes a mechanism to convene the voices of rural women leaders in initiatives for citizen participation regarding improvements in the country’s agricultural sector.

Grouped under three main themes, the tools and approaches covered staff transformation, community level engagement, and engaging men and boys.

The SheTrades Initiative works to foster more inclusive business and policy ecosystems and increase the competitiveness of women entrepreneurs and women producers and connect them to markets.