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International Year of the Woman Farmer 

The United Nations declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF 2026). The Year will spotlight the essential roles women play across agrifood systems, from production to trade, while often going unrecognized. Women farmers are central to food security, nutrition and economic resilience. IYWF 2026 will raise awareness and promote actions to close the gender gaps and improve women’s livelihoods worldwide.

FAO launches International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 to accelerate gender equality and women’s empowerment in agrifood systems
05/12/2025
Rome – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) yesterday launched The International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026, a global campaign aimed at recognizing women’s  indispensable yet often overlooked contributions to global agrifood systems and to galvanize efforts to close persistent gender gaps.
© FAO/Masudur Rahaman

Women farmers: who they are and what they do

Women farmers are all women working in agrifood systems in different capacities across all segments of value chains.

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The International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026
01/12/2025

The International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 aims to raise awareness of the role of women in agrifood systems and the challenges they face, including...

Voices of women farmers

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Visual Identity

Download posters, virtual backgrounds, gadget designs, web and event banners and so much more from the International Year of the Woman Farmer Digital Media Hub. Read the Visual Identity Guidelines for instructions on how to use and adapt the visual.

Trello Board

Inform, educate and engage audiences by sharing free material on the #YearOfTheWomanFarmer on your digital channels.

Communication Handbook

Find out more about how you can take part and promote the International Year the Woman Farmer 2026 by reading the Communication Handbook. 

Key fact 8

Empowering rural women through targeted development interventions could raise incomes for 58 million more people and boost resilience for 235 million—yet this potential remains largely untapped. 

Key fact 1

In 2021, women made up 41% of the global agrifood workforce—almost equal to men—yet rural women disproportionately face precarious jobs, poor working conditions, and limited rights.

Key fact 7

Closing the gender gaps in farm productivity and wages could raise global gross domestic product by USD 1 trillion and reduce food insecurity for 45 million people. 

Key fact 2

Women farmers typically work on smaller plots of land than men. Even when they manage farms of the same size, the gender gap in land productivity is 24 %. 

Key fact 4

Women engaged in wage employment in agrifood systems earn 78 cents for every dollar that men earn.  

Key fact 3

Each day of extreme high temperatures reduces the total value of crops produced by women farmers by 3% relative to men.

Key fact 5

Women farmers’ high unpaid care work burden undermines their labor-market participation, economic empowerment, and physical and mental wellbeing. The unpaid care work performed by women and girls contributes at least $10.8 trillion to the global economy annually.  

Key fact 6

The prevalence of food insecurity is consistently higher among women than among men globally and across regions. Reducing gender disparities in employment, education, and income could eliminate 52% of the food insecurity gap. 

What the Year aims to achieve

What the Year aims to achieve

The International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 aims to raise awareness of the role of women in agrifood systems and the challenges they face, including land tenure, financial and technical constraints, and limited access to services and education. It also seeks to encourage policies and investments that empower women in agrifood systems and to promote greater synergies among international initiatives supporting women farmers.  

Find out more about women in agrifood systems: 

Get involved

Whether you’re a government, city, private business, NGO, journalist, civil society organization or individual, you can take part in the International Year of Woman Farmer 2026.

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© FAO
IYRP 2026

2026 is also the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists!

As we celebrate both the International Year of the Woman Farmer and the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP), these global observances will amplify one another — spotlighting the vital role of women and pastoral communities in sustaining our land, feeding our world and building climate resilience from the ground up.

This aligns with the United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2019–2028, which promotes inclusive policies and investments for family farming, and reinforces the vital contributions of women farmers and pastoralist communities to sustainable, climate-resilient agrifood systems.