The Role of Women in Agriculture (College Board AP® Human Geography): Revision Note

Changing role of women in agriculture

• More women tend to be employed in subsistence agriculture than in commercial agriculture

  • Commercial agriculture, with its dependence on mechanization, employs fewer people overall and tends to employ more men 

• For this reason, women in less developed countries (LDCs) tend to be employed in the agricultural sector in larger percentages than women in more developed countries (MDCs)

• Women make up a large share of the agricultural labor force in many developing countries, especially in subsistence farming

• Shifts toward commercialization and mechanization of agriculture, including the Green Revolution, resulted in fewer women being employed in agriculture

• Women face multiple obstacles in the agricultural sector:

  • Women farmers are often denied loans or credit and have trouble accessing the necessary inputs for successful agricultural production, such as land, animals, equipment, seeds, and fertilizer

  • In some countries, laws and policies prevent women from owning or inheriting land

  • Cultural gender norms can limit women to unpaid family labor and exclude them from training and decision-making

  • Because women often practice subsistence agriculture, they may be unable to generate a surplus of crops for sale

• Despite the barriers in the way of women’s participation in the agricultural economy, investments in rural women and women farmers have been shown to:

  • increase agricultural productivity

  • reduce hunger and malnutrition

  • improve rural economies 

• As a result, many organizations target improvements in women’s access to agriculture

  • Examples include microcredit loans (such as the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh), women’s farming cooperatives, and legal reforms giving women equal rights to own and inherit land

Women in food distribution and consumption

• Women’s role extends beyond growing food:

  • Distribution: in many LDCs, especially in West Africa, women run much of the local food trade, selling surplus produce in markets

  • Consumption: women are usually responsible for buying, preparing, and serving food for the household, so they shape what families eat and are central to household food security

• In commercial agriculture, distribution is mostly handled by large companies, so women’s role is mainly as consumers