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By: Sofia Sherzoy

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Women are very important in food distribution that many people lack to know since their work continues to go unrecognized. In developing countries, women comprise about 43 percent of the agricultural work force. It is estimated that women produce about 60 to 80 percent of food in the world. They also account for an estimated two thirds of the the world's 600 million poor livestock keepers. More food is most likely to be distributed through women as rural women work longer hours than men. If women had to the same access of resources than men, a production of their farms would increase by 20 to 30 percent, which would increase food distributions in developing countries by 2.5 to 4 percent and decrease the number of the hunger population by about 12 percent.

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Women have to deal with the gender-bias, leading to lack of access to land, financing, markets, agriculture training and education, suitable working conditions, etc. They do not receive equal treatment, which put female farmers at a disadvantage before they even start to farm. In developing countries, only about 10 to 20 percent of landholders are women, and even in other parts of the world, they are unable to legally own or control land. In order for women receive a higher amount of pay and reliable sources of income, they need to have power over the land they work at. This makes them unable to enter contract farming agreements due to the land issues they face everyday. Women farms produce 20 to 30 percent less than farms run by men. Women also have limited access to technological advancements, sometimes even lack how to use the improved technology.

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-For 80 percent of working women in the least developed countries, agriculture is their man source of income.
-Only 25 percent of African agricultural researchers are female.
-If women are given the same opportunities as men, it can lift up to 150 million people out of undernutrition.
-36 percent of U.S. farmers are women

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“6 Challenges Facing Women in Farming.” AgriBusiness | 6 Challenges Facing Women in Farming | BizConnect, bizconnect.standardbank.co.za/sector-news/agriculturearticles/6-challenges-facing-women-in-farming.aspx.

“Conclusions.” Agriculture, Trade Negotiations and Gender, www.fao.org/3/a0493e/a0493e07.htm.

Duckett, Maryellen Kennedy. “Empowering Female Farmers to Feed the World.” Culture, National Geographic, 10 Feb. 2021, www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/partner-content-empowering-female-farmers.

“Introduction.” A Synthesis Report of the Africa Region - Women, Agriculture and Rural Development, www.fao.org/3/x0250e/x0250e03.htm.

“What Is the Impact of Rural Transformations on Women Farmers?” World Bank Blogs, blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/what-impact-rural-transformations-women-farmers.

“Women.” Farming First, 8 Mar. 2018, farmingfirst.org/women_infographic/.

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Commercial agriculture gives women a lot more opportunities to take on paid employment outside their family farms with association in traditional export crop production as contract farmers or wage employees. Women in commercial agriculture will empower women, meaning they can have more land access, grow more crops, and can put more money into the economy. If anything, this will benefit everyone from their families (husbands and children) of the women empowered and also the people employed in marketing and distributing their produce to everyday consumers and citizens who benefit from cheaper, better food and a better economy. However, within households and gender-biases, women are unlikely to own large commercial farms. Women involved in commercial farming usually have their sales receipts controlled by the men in the family. As women start to focus on the commercialization of agriculture, rural households can start to become increasingly more dependent on monetary income to fulfill basic family food needs.

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A lot of women who rely strongly on agriculture usually are subsistence farmers since themselves and their families are supported by it. Also, it can simply mean in some cases, food grown for local consumption for a village or market, and even just to be sold for revenue. The importance of women in subsistence agriculture is essential due to male out-migration. About 70 percent of the female population live in rural areas, where they sell or make money from about 60-80 percent of the agriculture, however, 44 percent of the work is necessary for household subsistence. Women have a limited access to resources which gives low priority afforded to the subsistence farming sector. Also, prices are slowly rising for basic food products, commodities, and agriculture usually encourages women to remain at the subsistence level to cover more of the household food needs. Women in subsistence agriculture leads to farmers responsible for areas in which they have no experience or training in.