Event Detail: “Regional Dialogue Marking the International Year of the Woman Farmer

Date and time: 6 March 2026, 14:00 - 15: 30 pm

Location: Virtual 

Excellencies, colleagues, partners, and friends,

Thank you for this rich and insightful discussion, and my sincere appreciation to our co-organizer – FAO, our distinguished panelists, and all participants joining us today.

As we mark International Women’s Day and the International Year of the Woman Farmer, today’s dialogue has reaffirmed a reality we see across Asia and the Pacific: Women are central to agrifood systems, not only as producers, but as entrepreneurs, resource managers, and leaders within their communities. Yet, as we heard from our panelists, women farmers continue to face structural barriers in accessing land, finance, technologies, markets, and decision-making opportunities.

At the same time, the discussion also showed what is possible when these barriers are systematically addressed through policies and mechanisms that open pathways for women’s leadership:

• from women strengthening their incomes and agency by establishing sustainable agriculture enterprises, to gender-responsive green commodity value chains.

These examples reinforce that advancing gender equality in agrifood systems is not only a matter of equity, it is fundamental to building resilient food systems, protecting ecosystems, and sustaining livelihoods.

This is precisely why supporting women farmers is a priority across UNDP’s work on climate, nature, and development.

Through initiatives such as the SCALA programme, implemented in partnership with FAO, UNDP supports countries to integrate gender equality into climate and agricultural policies, investments, and planning. 

In Cambodia, this has helped strengthen gender-responsive climate priorities within national agriculture and climate action plans. 

In Indonesia, our work in sustainable palm oil and cocoa is helping institutionalize gender-responsive practices across value chains. 

In Mongolia and Bhutan, gender-responsive approaches are being integrated into food systems transformation and climate-resilient agriculture, including by providing access to technologies, participatory planning, and sustainable livelihoods that directly benefit women farmers.

Similarly, through UNDP’s Nature Pledge, we are supporting countries to implement their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans in ways that recognize women as critical stewards of biodiversity and ecosystems. 

UNDP’s Climate Finance Network initiative supports gender-responsive climate finance to improve resilience and investment access for women farmers, women-led businesses, and women-headed households. 

In short and to sum up- from national policy and climate commitments, to biodiversity and nature-based solutions, to financial systems and local livelihoods, we aim to ensure that women farmers are not left behind, but are empowered as leaders in the transformation of agrifood systems.

As we mark this International Women’s Day and the International Year of the Woman Farmer, this is the moment to accelerate progress. We must continue working together to address structural barriers, scale proven solutions, and ensure women farmers have the resources, opportunities, and voice to shape the future of agrifood systems.

At UNDP, we remain deeply committed to working with our UN sister agencies, governments, private sector, CSOs and partners across the region on this critical agenda. 

Because when women farmers are empowered, food systems become more resilient, ecosystems are better protected, and communities are stronger!

Thank you.