Women and Smallholder Farming: Addressing Global Inequities in Agriculture

There are an estimated 500 million smallholder farmers across the world, of which a considerable percentage of women. Despite their large numbers and important roles, women smallholders remain largely unsupported and their contribution to agriculture is often devalued because of their sex.

Women and smallholder farming: Addressing global inequities in agriculture provides a comprehensive overview of the main obstacles and challenges women smallholders continue to face, such as restricted access to markets and education, as well as a lack of control over assets and property rights.

The book also assesses the impact of sociocultural factors on women smallholder farmers in different regions around the world, including Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. In highlighting these issues, the book considers how key stakeholders across the agri-food supply chain can support, empower and sufficiently compensate women smallholder farmers for their contribution to agriculture.

Dr Carolyn Sachs is Professor Emerita of Rural Sociology at The Pennsylvania State University, USA. She serves on an expert panel to the United Nations Programme on Gender, Water and Sanitation and is involved in several extension and outreach programmes, including the Pennsylvania Women’s Agricultural Network (PAWAgN), in which she provides agricultural, entrepreneurship and leadership training.

Dr Paige Castellanos is Senior Manager of Gender Justice and Inclusion at Oxfam America, USA. Before moving into her new role in 2022, Dr Castellanos was previously Director for the Gender Equity through Agriculture Research and Education (GEARE) Initiative at The Pennsylvania State University, USA. From 2016-2019, Dr Castellanos acted as Project Manager for the Women in Agriculture Network (WAgN): Honduras - a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to improve women’s participation in the horticulture value chain in Honduras.