While women may not always be credited, they do hold significantly important roles in rural

agriculture. Typically, the agricultural workforce of developing countries is mainly female.

Despite this, women don’t usually see a very apparent outcome of being in the agricultural
workforce, no matter how much of their time, energy, and money they invest into it. This is due
in part to the fact that females in agriculture don’t have the same access to resources as men
do, such as fertilizers, machinery, etc. Often, this deprivation of resources is what leads to the
unsuccessful productions that women see from their farms. The empowerment of women in
rural agriculture regions of developing countries can lead to several negative and positive
outcomes, possibly including their success rate within farming, which could increase the overall
quality of life for those who they provide for.

On average, women make up around 43% of the agricultural labor force in developing countries,
with around 20% in Latin America and 50% in Eastern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Despite
their large majority in agriculture, women are still unable to access tools that could increase their
yields and overall success. Women in these circumstances are unable to take part in anything
past subsistence farming, which leaves them barely able to provide for themselves and their
own families, much less contribute to markets and overall economies. Unfortunately, this work is
incredibly strenuous compared to its almost non-existent success and yield size. Men in this
same industry, however, tend to produce 20-30% more than women, which is largely due to their
access to more advanced tools. Providing access to such tools for females will not only help
them to provide for people at a smaller scale, but can also provide food for the ever-growing
global population. This will help to combat starvation and bring families out of poverty as well.
By giving women access to such equality, thus empowering the agricultural majority of women,
there can be significant benefits on society. Rural women are key in development, as they play
crucial roles towards both the achievement and transformation of economic, social, and
environmental changes that are required for sustainable development. However, with their
limited access to health care, education, credit, and much more, this achievement level
plummets, and these obstacles become even worse due to the global food and economic crises
occurring in the world. The empowerment of rural women, especially those in agriculture, is
essential for the well-being of individuals, families, and communities, as well as for the overall
economic productivity throughout the globe because of women’s major presence in the
agricultural workforce.

Some other positive impacts of this empowerment include gains in land ownership/land tenure,
improvement in political/social status, improvement in personal wealth/income, and
demographic changes. As men move away for other job opportunities, women will be able to
take greater responsibility when it comes to managing both the family land/farm and household.
Women may also gain more access to loans in order to expand their production or to expand
their farming businesses. Women will also have the opportunity to earn more money from the
increased farm productivity. Finally, women may also be able to gain higher titles in their
communities, such as becoming village leaders, educators, innovators, etc. Despite these
further positive impacts, there are also several negative impacts when it comes to empowering
women in the agricultural business. This can include social tension or pushback on changing
roles of women in rural society, along with other negative impacts on family, household, and
women themselves. People who believe more in traditional social roles for women, such as
domestic or household roles, may reject female farmers and women as business people.
Certain organizations may form movements or propose certain laws to restrict women’s
advanced roles in rural society, while increased time working on agriculture may result in less
time to care for children and other households needs.