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Access to and control over resources
Ensuring women’s and girls’ equal access to and control over land, water, fisheries, forests, and other natural and productive resources.
Ensuring women’s and girls’ equal access to and control over land, water, fisheries, forests, and other natural and productive resources.
Women’s limited access to land, water, fisheries, forests, and other natural and productive resources undermines their rights and economic potential, weakening agricultural efficiency and broader economic growth. Despite legal recognition, women—especially Indigenous women, rural women, and those in crisis contexts—often lack secure land tenure rights and access to critical inputs, and face exclusion from decision-making, with climate change further exacerbating these disparities.
Climate-related shocks increase women’s workloads, such as collecting water and fuel, and lead to the feminization of agriculture when men migrate, yet women remain underserved by extension services and support systems. In fisheries and aquaculture, women are heavily involved but earn less than men, and their unequal access to forest resources limits both income and wellbeing despite their vital role in conservation.
Policies and technologies often ignore women’s knowledge and needs, from crop preferences to farm equipment design, limiting their productivity and safety. Integrating gender equality into agroecological and climate-resilient approaches offers a path to more inclusive and sustainable food systems, benefiting both women and men and advancing social justice and development.
Key figures
According to two SDG indicators (5.a.1 and 5.a.2), in 23 of the 49 countries with available data, less than 50 percent of women and men in agricultural households own or have secure rights over land.
In almost half of the countries, men own land at least twice as often as women. Across the set of 84 reporting countries, protections for women's land rights are low or not existent in 58 percent of them. (Slavchevska, V. et al., 2025). Only 22% of countries report significant levels of women’s involvement in integrated water resource management (FAO, 2023).
Develop, reinforce and implement legislation to promote women’s land rights and enforcement of property and inheritance laws.
Guarantee equal tenure rights and safe access to and control over land, water, forests, and fisheries for all women regardless of marital or civil status.
Support women’s tenure rights in line with international guidelines, protecting them from unjust land loss or eviction.
Prioritize access for women in the fisheries’ sector to support their livelihoods and improve food security.
Respect Indigenous land tenure systems and ensure Indigenous women’s control, consent, and leadership in resource decisions aligned with national and international standards.
Foster women’s participation in emergency preparedness and response and rehabilitation programmes and disaster risk reduction strategies.
Advance understanding of women’s rights in land and fisheries governance.
Ensure women’s participation in natural resources’ governance, valuing Indigenous knowledge and including marginalized groups like women with disabilities.
Invest equally in gender-responsive agricultural development, promote agroecological, climate resilient agriculture and inclusive technologies.
Fund water access innovations with a gender focus to meet women’s consumption and production needs and eliminate discrimination in water management.
Support gender-responsive climate adaptation and mitigation investments that reflect local realities and prioritize women's needs.
Ensure women, especially Indigenous women, lead and participate in climate and environmental policymaking at all levels.