THEMATIC AREA 2
Women working in agrifood systems are consistently marginalized in part-time and vulnerable forms of employment. They are paid less for the same work, earning USD 0.82 for every USD 1.00 earned by men in agriculture, and 15.8 percent less than men in off-farm segments of agrifood systems, where they often work in casual, informal and low-skilled jobs.7 For example, women working in Senegal’s horticulture sector earn wages which are on average 24 percent lower than those of men.8 Women also bear a disproportionate burden of unpaid domestic and care work, spending on average 4.2 hours a day compared to less than 2 hours spent by men. This further restricts their access to full-time employment and perpetuates their segregation in low-paying, low-quality jobs.
These conditions are created by the persistent structural inequalities and discriminatory social norms that leave women behind, weakening the overall economic potential of agrifood systems and their capacity to deliver equal benefits to all.
“In Zambia, most women participate in the agricultural sector as contributing family workers or are engaged in informal employment which provides little opportunity for economic security. This is the narrative that we need to change through a coordinated approach.”Oliver Kalabo
Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet – Administration, Gender Division, Republic of Zambia
High-level CGE event, New York, 24 September 2024
Instead, closing gender wage gaps in agrifood systems would generate big gains: FAO estimates that in conjunction with closing the gap in women’s on-farm productivity (see Thematic area 3), this would generate an additional USD 1 trillion in gross domestic product and reduce the number of food-insecure people by 45 million. Additionally, access to formal child care for women in agrifood systems has shown to have a positive impact on women’s well-being, incomes and likelihood of employment.
Commitments in this thematic area call for concrete actions to promote women’s access to high-quality and well-remunerated work in agriculture and to high-value nodes of agrifood system value chains; to invest in policies and programmes that increase access to child care or address other barriers that result in an unequal balance of paid and unpaid work between men and women; and to design interventions which address discriminatory social norms, thus creating the conditions for women to fully participate in and benefit from agrifood systems.
For bilateral development agencies, foundations, multilaterals, non-governmental organizations
For Members, producer organizations, local authorities, etc.
For businesses
Required citation:
FAO. 2025. Commit to Grow Equality: investing in the future of women in agrifood systems – Progress report 2025. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cd4123en
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