The document discusses the vital but underrecognized role of women in agriculture, highlighting that they make up 43% of the agricultural labor force yet face significant barriers. It advocates for reframing agricultural innovation to include a focus on post-harvest practices and household nutrition, emphasizing the need for improved access to resources for women. To scale these efforts, a transformative, cross-institutional approach is necessary to empower women producers and address their unique challenges.

1. How can agricultural innovation better
empower women and their key roles
in food and nutrition security?
Katy Lee

2. • Women provide much of the world’s
agricultural labour yet poorly recognized
• Need to reframe food security focus of
innovation to include post harvest and
household nutrition
• Access to resources of all kinds is crucial and
has to start from the household and
community

3. Our evidence:
• Women comprise 43% of global agricultural
labour yet often not classed as farmers
• Women control 3-20% of agricultural land
• Typically 20-30% lower yields as less access to
resources – time, land, knowledge, inputs etc

4. What is needed to take our case to scale:
• Rethink scope of innovation and of agriculture
through the eyes of women producers
• Enable access to inputs, knowledge, innovation
and returns. Greater focus on saving time &
energy for women
• This must be cross-institutional and
transformative - traditional gender focal points
are not enough