Gender disparities among farmers in Ghana – who gets left behind by digital agriculture?
Gender disparities are widespread among rural smallholder farming communities. While digital technologies can help farmers access vital agricultural advice and close the gap, women - particularly older women - can face barriers to using them. New research looks at these barriers and the solutions to overcome them.
Closing the gaps: Food safety and women’s empowerment in Uganda’s agrifood policies
A study recently published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems examines the connection between food safety and gender in Uganda’s agrifood policies. The research, led by CABI scientists and supported by CABI’s PlantwisePlus programme and AWARD, highlights how food safety is critical to public health, economic stability, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, agrifood…
Transforming women’s empowerment in agrifood systems
Women in agrifood systems are essential. They constitute over 50% of the agricultural workforce (FAO, 2023), with roles throughout the food value chain supporting the production of over half of the world’s food. However, studies show that they produce 20-30% less than men. As a marginalized group, they face unequal control of and access to resources. If male-female differences in access and yields were overcome, the number of undernourished…
CABI and CRRI explore gender gap of crop loss impact at Odisha, India workshop
Why do men, women and youth experience crop loss differently? That question took centre stage at a stakeholder workshop in India, organized by the Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) and CABI’s Global Burden of Crop Loss. Crop loss remains a pressing global challenge, with up to 40% of crops lost before harvest each year due…
Forging a new approach to agriculture research from a gender lens
While working with women farmers across Africa for the past 17 years, Dr Lora Forsythe, lead of the Gender and Social Difference research group at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich in the United Kingdom, heard a common refrain “Many different women in diverse contexts told me they struggled with poor soil,” Dr Forsythe…
How can we empower women farmers to address climate change?
Climate change poses significant threats to the food security and livelihoods of women farmers writes Sandra Phelps, Gender Manager at CABI ahead of International Women’s Day on Saturday 8 March 2025. There are an estimated 215 million women smallholders globally. They account for nearly one-third of food production worldwide. Despite this critical role, women are…
Celebrating Rural Women’s Day: Stories of empowerment, entrepreneurship and resilience from the fields
This week, we celebrated Rural Women’s Day (15 October) – an important opportunity to mark women’s valuable contribution to agriculture. The UN states that women make up, on average, over 40% of the agricultural labour force. In some countries in Africa and Asia, this figure is much higher. In Ghana, for example, women produce 70%…
Empowering the next generation of scientists: CABI in Pakistan provides internships for agricultural students
CABI’s centre in Pakistan is helping to foster the next generation of scientists interested in securing greater food security in the world by offering internships for agricultural students at its biological control laboratories in Rawalpindi. Thirty-one entomology and plant pathology students from Pakistan’s top agricultural universities are taking part in ongoing research projects, fieldwork, data…
Overcoming social norms to boost women farmers’ access to agricultural advisory services
On International Women’s Day, we must celebrate women’s progress in agriculture. Women are embracing agricultural services and training. They are empowering themselves and becoming skilled farmers in their own right, writes Sandra Phelps, Gender Manager, CABI.
The climate crisis disproportionately affects women and girls. We need to act on climate change and gender!
The climate crisis does not affect everyone equally. Women and girls are more likely to experience the greatest impacts of climate change. According to the UN Environment Programme, for example, 80% of people displaced by climate change are women. And in an article from 2022, the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of…