LocationsFrom Farms to Frontlines: Women Shaping Asia-Pacific’s Climate Future
November 14, 2025
The Asia-Pacific region is one of the most disaster-prone in the world. Floods, droughts, heatwaves, and storms are reshaping both landscapes and livelihoods. And while global frameworks like Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action, and the SDGs have repeatedly emphasized that gender equality is fundamental to sustainable food systems and climate action, the consequences of these climate impacts are far from gender-neutral.
Women make up more than 60% of the agricultural workforce in several countries across the region. They are central to food production, yet they continue to face limited access to land, credit, and decision-making. Despite being on the front lines of agriculture, natural resource management, and biodiversity conservation, women tend to occupy low-value, unpaid, or informal roles.
Thankfully, momentum is rising to make agri-food and climate systems more gender-responsive, both regionally and globally. Digital solutions, better data, and investments in women-led innovations are emerging.
Many Asia-Pacific countries have now integrated gender priorities into their nationally determined contributions and national adaptation plans. However, the gap between policy ambition and financing remains wide. Only 2.9% of climate-related development finance in the region prioritizes gender equality. Deep-rooted barriers, such as unequal land rights and underfunded gender programs, continue to limit impact.
Recent data suggests that bridging these gaps could unlock over USD 1 trillion in global GDP gains and create more resilient, inclusive agri-food systems. The key is in transforming national commitments into tangible, financed actions.
UNDP is taking this seriously. Through our global gender equality strategy and forthcoming Strategic Plan 2026–2029, we are driving structural change to close gender gaps by ensuring that women’s voices, priorities, and leadership shape climate and agri-food policies from local to national levels.
Our Nature Pledge, for example, supports over 140 countries in achieving biodiversity goals with gender equality at the center. Across the Asia-Pacific region, UNDP’s growing portfolio places women at the heart of national climate and biodiversity agendas, scaling innovations that turn global commitments into local impact.
Let me share a few examples:
- In Bangladesh, our Local Government Initiatives on Climate Change (LOGIC) project has transformed how climate finance reaches those who need it most. Over 1.1 million people have benefited, with more than 98% of household grants going directly to women. This has enabled women in flood- and salinity-prone areas to start adaptive livelihoods, such as crab farming, home-based vegetable enterprises, and group businesses. Many are now opening bank accounts in their own names—a quiet revolution in financial inclusion and autonomy.
- Globally, the Adaptation Innovation Marketplace Initiative has supported over 44 community-led projects across 33 countries, benefiting more than 2.6 million people. In Thailand, indigenous women trained in climate-smart silk production have elected their first woman village head. In Bangladesh, women water entrepreneurs manage clean water filters during seasonal floods. In China, UNDP’s Rural Digital Finance Initiative has mobilized over USD 20 million in financing, supporting more than 7,000 MSMEs—prioritizing women-owned businesses.
These examples show that when resources flow to women, communities gain not only resilience but also dignity and leadership.
Gender-responsive governance and policy environments are critical in order for women in agri-food systems to thrive. UNDP has prioritized gender-responsive approaches through several initiatives:
- In Cambodia, under the Global SCALA program co-led by FAO and UNDP, the Ministry of Agriculture has updated its Climate Change Action Plan 2023–2030 to include gender-responsive budgeting and women’s economic empowerment as measurable outcomes.
- In Indonesia, our FAST project is enabling increased participation of women producers in sustainable palm oil and cocoa value chains.
- In Mongolia, our Food System Transformation Initiative is embedding gender equality into national climate and biodiversity plans, promoting women’s land rights and de-risking investments in women-led green enterprises.
- In Bhutan, the Climate Resilient Agriculture Initiative has shown that integrating gender into climate-smart agriculture yields impactful results. Technologies like polygreenhouses and water harvesting ponds have significantly reduced women’s labor burden, freeing up time for income-generating activities.
- In Thailand, a systems-level assessment under our SCALA initiative with FAO has strengthened evidence on women’s roles in maize and livestock systems—ensuring national policies are grounded in women’s lived experiences and contributions.
Women’s leadership is also central to climate resilience:
- In Bangladesh, women are tackling coastal salinity through adaptive livelihoods and rainwater harvesting, improving both food and water security. In Iran, women-led self-help groups are channeling microfinance into climate-smart agriculture, ecotourism, and animal husbandry, diversifying incomes and building sustainable local economies.
- In India, women are emerging as climate champions, especially in renewable energy. Solar-powered cold storage units managed by women’s cooperatives have improved produce storage and strengthened women’s bargaining power in markets.
Digital innovation is another powerful enabler. UNDP is using digital tools to expand women’s market access and climate resilience. For example:
- In Iran, the Conservation of Iranian Wetlands Project has established 11 digital hubs connecting farmers to online markets—84% of users are women, and their incomes have increased through the sale of local produce.
- In Cambodia, the Women’s Resilience Index provides gender-specific data for climate adaptation and local planning.
- In Bhutan, female farmers use smart irrigation systems powered by IoT and mobile apps to optimize water use and boost productivity.
Partnerships and South-South collaboration are key to scaling impact. Through the IPSA Fund, women farmers in 10 countries are accessing solar-powered agricultural technologies. Through the Equator Initiative, we celebrate indigenous women leaders driving nature-based solutions—from climate-smart farming in India to marine conservation in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
Thirty years on from the Beijing Platform for Action, it is imperative that every policy, investment, and innovation in agri-food systems be gender-responsive. We must invest in women not merely as target beneficiaries, but as co-creators of climate solutions and architects of scalable food security.