FAO launched the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 and calls for accelerating gender equality in agrifood systems

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, led the launch of the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026. This commemoration was designated by the United Nations General Assembly.

The initiative was presented during the 39th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean (LARC39) in Brasília and aims to raise awareness of the essential role of women in agrifood systems, draw attention to the structural challenges they face, promote transformative public policies, mobilize strategic investments, and strengthen partnerships to close gender gaps in the sector.

Women farmers play an essential role in agrifood systems

In Latin America and the Caribbean, women play an essential role in producing, processing, distributing, and marketing food. They represent 36 percent of the workforce in the region’s agrifood systems, with particularly strong participation in non-agricultural segments; 71 percent of them are concentrated in activities such as food processing and marketing.

However, structural inequalities persist, limiting their economic autonomy and productivity. Rural women have limited access to land tenure, financial services, and technology, and they bear a disproportionate burden of unpaid domestic and care work.

These gaps are also reflected in food security. In 2022, more women than men experienced hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean. The gender gap in moderate or severe food insecurity reached 9.1 percentage points, having widened sharply in 2021 to 11.5 points, partly due to the crisis triggered by the pandemic.

The situation is further complicated by the region’s high vulnerability to climate change. The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, negatively impact the agricultural sector and exacerbate the challenges faced by rural women.

In this context, ministers of agriculture from Latin America and the Caribbean highlighted progress in public policies and investments aimed at empowering women farmers, as well as the challenges that remain in closing gender gaps.

Throughout 2026, the International Year will promote national, regional, and global actions to integrate gender equality into agrifood policies, mobilize public and private investments, and strengthen women’s access to land, financing, technology, and services.

The event featured remarks from Rene Orellana Halkyer, the FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean; Fernanda Machiaveli, the Brazilian Vice Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Farming; María Fernanda Rivera, the Guatemalan Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food; Martha Carvajalino, the Colombian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; Lisa Jawahir, the Saint Lucian Minister of Agriculture; and María Ignacia Fernández, the Chilean Minister of Agriculture.

Vânia Marques, President of the National Confederation of Rural Workers, Family Farmers, and Family Farmer Workers (CONTAG) and representative of the Marcha das Margaritas, also participated, as did Soraya Suárez, Regional Coordinator of the Parliamentary Fronts Against Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean.