The UN General Assembly adopted the relevant resolution quite a long time ago – on May 2, 2024. One of the reasons is the slowing progress in addressing poverty eradication, hunger, gender equality, empowerment of all women and girls.
With this in mind, the UN/FAO initiative aimed to highlight women’s contributions to global agrifood systems – from production and processing to trade and research. The organization aims to stimulate the development of policies and investments that will help narrow the gender gap in access to resources, technologies and opportunities.
FAO estimates that about 40 percent of the world’s working women are employed in agrifood systems, from crop production to processing, logistics and trade.
Nevertheless, FAO finds that in many countries women working in agriculture still face limited access to land, finance, modern technology and educational opportunities. As a result of these structural constraints, the productivity of farms run by women can be, on average, about 24 percent lower than that of farms run by men. However, research shows that the cause is not skills or experience, but rather unequal access to resources. Climate change also exacerbates these imbalances, as women are often less able to invest in adaptation technologies.
Trillion-dollar potential
FAO Chief Economist Máximo Torero estimates that closing the gender gap in the agricultural sector has the potential to increase global GDP by about one trillion dollars and reduce food insecurity for about 45 million people. In other words, supporting women farmers is not only a matter of justice, but also one of the most effective tools to improve global food security, writes EastFruit.
Opportunities for women farmers in Moldova
In the Republic of Moldova, women farmers make up about 18% of subsidy recipients. Only 14% of farms with legal status are managed by women. Data show that farms managed by women are, on average, smaller and less mechanized, with limited access to irrigation, post-harvest infrastructure and modern machinery.
In the spirit of the UN/FAO recommendations and in the context of adjusting the financing principles of the agricultural policy of the Republic of Moldova in 2026, support measures for women in agriculture in the country are being expanded. At least, the leadership of the MAIA Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry claims that the subsidy mechanism provided for in the new law “better meets the needs of rural women, youth and small producers”.
Some MDL 500 million is reserved in the National Fund for Agricultural and Rural Development for 2026 for targeted subsidies to these categories of beneficiaries, and the call for applications will be announced after the approval of the Strategic Program for Agricultural Policy (PSPA).
