Why the world needs to invest in 'her' to feed itself

Editor's note: Decision Makers is a global platform for decision makers to share their insights on events shaping today's world. Carlos Aldeco is a representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to China, Nii Quaye-Kumah is the representative of the International Fund for Agricultural Development to China and head of the regional South-South and Triangular Cooperation Center for Asia, Chu Q. Wang serves as the head of office (Ad Interim) at UN Women China, and Bing Zhao is the representative and country director of the United Nations World Food Programme in China and Centre of Excellence for Rural Transformation. The article reflects the authors' opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

As the world observes International Women's Day, the United Nations General Assembly designation of 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer carries renewed urgency. With less than five years to deliver on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, this designation offers a chance to move beyond celebration and toward practical, measurable collective action that recognizes women farmers' essential contribution to all 17 SDGs.

Farmers feed the world. Women make up more than 40% of the global agrifood workforce and are critical to global food security. They plant, harvest, herd, process, trade, cook and serve as decision-makers on family nutrition. And they often shoulder a disproportionate share of unpaid care work that sustains households, communities and societies.

Their labor is often invisible in data, underpaid in markets and underfunded in investment and resourcing decisions. These structural inequalities are further compounded by climate change. From scorching heat to torrential rain, climate shocks often hit women farmers harder, partly because they have less access to land rights, finance, insurance and climate-resilient technologies.

The disparity is stark: a 1-degree Celsius increase in long-term average temperatures can reduce the incomes of female-headed households by up to 34% compared to male-headed ones.

The cost of leaving women farmers behind is immense. Yet it is estimated that closing gender inequalities in agrifood systems could increase global GDP by around $1 trillion and achieve food security for approximately 45 million people. Equality is not only a matter of justice and rights, but also smart economics.

In China, investing in women farmers presents an even greater opportunity. With rural women comprising an estimated 60% of the country's agricultural workforce, targeted investment in their capabilities, leadership and climate resilience could yield particularly high returns.

However, significant gaps persist. Compared to men, rural women face lower educational attainment, a digital literacy divide and a disproportionate burden of unpaid care work. They remain on the periphery of decision-making, accounting for 26.1% of village committee members and just 10.9% of village heads.

China has enacted a comprehensive policy framework to support rural women, notably through the Outline for Women's Development in China (2021-30), which mandates land rights protection, economic and political empowerment, financial inclusion and more. Yet, translating these high-level commitments into everyday reality for all remains an unfinished task in achieving full gender equality. By empowering more women farmers and unlocking their full potential, China can also accelerate its progress towards the SDGs.

The International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 serves as a pivotal opportunity to translate policy into tangible implementation. UN agencies in China are committed to working together to help unlock women farmers' potential. By aligning our expertise across agriculture, finance, nutrition, gender equality and rural services, and by collaborating closely with partners across public and private sectors, we are uniquely positioned to support integrated programs and solutions that ensure no woman farmer is left behind in the journey toward rural revitalization.

Recognizing that gender equality is a key determinant of development success, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) integrates women throughout the full project cycle – from design to implementation and evaluation. For example, women farmers represent more than half of total participants in IFAD's projects in Yunnan and Hunan provinces. Since 2021, IFAD has supported more than 366,000 women farmers and over 36,600 women-headed households and financed 200 women-led rural startups in the two provinces.

In Hunan, climate resilience capacity was enhanced among over 9,700 women through better access to climate information. In Yunnan, over 3,000 women producer members were provided with new or improved rural services to enhance their access to resources, training and market opportunities.

Tang Zhongxiu, the woman leader of a kiwi cooperative in Suijiang, a county in Yunnan, said, "With the monorail system that easily transports fruits, the women farmers in our cooperative no longer have to carry heavy loads, increasing both efficiency and income."

In Qinghai province, UN Women has been piloting a women-led renewable energy initiative, introducing solar power in two herder communities. Since 2023, the project has improved productivity in dairy processing, reduced women's unpaid care work by an estimated 8,650 hours, generated approximately 126,500 yuan (almost $18,280) in economic benefits, and prevented about 14 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, providing a triple-win model of women's empowerment, livelihoods and climate action that can be scaled in other regions.

In Sichuan province, women's leadership in sustainable agriculture and cooperative governance was strengthened as 100 women cooperative leaders enhanced their capacities in climate-smart agriculture, governance, finance, digital skills and gender equality, indirectly benefiting tens of thousands of rural residents.

To support women to build sustainable livelihoods, the World Food Programme's home-grown school feeding projects in rural Gansu and Hunan provinces have connected women smallholders to reliable local demand by enabling them to supply fresh food to local kindergartens. This generates income while simultaneously improving children's diets.

Initiatives supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have delivered concrete results for women farmers at scale in China. Under nine projects implemented in partnership with the Global Environment Facility, at least 100,000 women have benefited from climate-resilient agriculture and sustainable land management across 17 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.

From lack of available time to limited market access, these are common constraints faced by women farmers across the world. This makes China's practical solutions highly transferable.

As a pivotal contributor to South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) through mechanisms such as the China-IFAD SSTC Facility, FAO-China South-South Cooperation Programme and the Beijing-based WFP Centre of Excellence for Rural Transformation, China can share learnings from its own gender-responsive policy and practice – ranging from rural infrastructure and labor-saving technologies to inclusive value chains and climate-smart agriculture – with other countries across the Global South.

Women farmers are not passive beneficiaries. They are powerful agents of change.They deserve visibility, voice and sustained investment backed by policies and financing that ensure women's rights to land, markets and decision-making, reduce their unpaid care burdens and support climate-resilient livelihoods. Through innovative solutions and partnerships, societies can unlock the full potential of women farmers to drive sustainable development in rural areas and beyond.

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