33 Million Women Grow Food on Plots in Sub-Saharan Africa. Greener Farming Can Boost Their Earnings – Study
What is the role of women in agriculture and how can agroecology help them?
Women make up over half of sub-Saharan Africa’s 33 million smallholder farmers. They don’t just grow crops – they also work in agroprocessing (making crops into other products) and marketing. Women farmers generally have deep-rooted knowledge of local ecosystems, traditional farming and ways to grow and store seeds. However, they cannot easily access productive resources such as land, agricultural equipment or finance.
This is why a set of farming practices that use natural inputs at a lower cost can help women smallholder farmers to build more productive farms.