The Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has urged global action to resolve insecure land tenure issues to ensure women’s land rights and access to tenure in agriculture.
The Alliance said that women played a crucial role in food production and processing, and that securing land rights would empower them to invest in their land, boost agricultural productivity, and enhance food security.
Madam Alice Rhuweza, President of AGRA, made these remarks during a ceremony marking International Women’s Day 2025, held in Accra under the theme “Empowering Women, Transforming Trade: Unlocking Africa’s Economic Potential.
She said that 63 percent of women were involved in agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, contributing to 60 to 80 percent of food production in Africa and half of the food produced globally.
However, they only received 10 per cent of the revenue and were often excluded from decision-making processes.
Madam Rhuweza called on global leaders to address the issue of insecure land tenure by ensuring women have land rights and access to tenure.
“We need to make sure that women are also at the table when decisions about agriculture and agricultural policy are being made and also make sure that the income disparity between women and men around the world working in the agriculture sector is addressed,” she stressed.
Mr. Abebe Haile Gabriel, Assistant Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), noted that disruptions and crises had a more detrimental impact on women’s conditions within agrifood systems compared to their male counterparts.
He said that women across Africa were at the heart of commerce, whether in informal markets, agribusiness, manufacturing, or cross-border trade, representing nearly two-thirds of the agrifood workforce.
They took on roles as producers, traders, processors, distributors, and dealers.
Mr. Gabriel stated that women constituted over 70 per cent of traders, sustaining families, communities, and entire economies.
However, he pointed out that these engagements were predominantly within low-value domestic supply chains and informal sectors.
Despite their significant contributions, he added, women continued to face systemic barriers, including limited access to finance, restrictive policies, trade-related gender biases, and infrastructure deficits that hindered their full participation in economic activities.
Mr. Gabriel mentioned that women involved in cross-border trade also faced risks of violence, harassment, exploitation, and abuse at border crossings.
“Overcoming these obstacles will empower women through a smart economic strategy,” he remarked.
Mr. Gabriel said it was important to provide targeted financial products, capacity-building, and mentorship programmes tailored to the needs of women-led businesses.
He said that strengthening trade policies that facilitated women’s participation in national, regional, and international trade was essential to tackling those challenges.
Mr. Gabriel also urged governments, private sector actors, development partners, and civil society to work together to create the enabling environments for women in trade.
“Together, let us continue to champion policies, partnerships, and investments that empower women.
“Let us help in unleashing their full potential as catalysts towards a more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood system transformation to achieve better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind,” he said.
By Edward Dankwah, GNA
