Women play an essential role in agri-food systems, as farmers, retailers, wage earners, entrepreneurs, etc. But their working conditions and economic opportunities are determined by gender inequalities within the household, community, institutions, and society at large.

To highlight the importance of women in economic development and poverty eradication, the
International Day of Rural Women
is celebrated every October 15, a date established by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) in 2007. This event also underlines the key role of women living in rural areas, as they are essential to promote economic, social and environmental transformations.

Currently, women living in rural areas account for a
quarter of the world’s population
, so they have a key role in the development and strengthening of economies, in global food supply and in building resilience to climate change. Agriculture is their main sector of employment, where they represent 36% of the workforce, but rural women are also a fundamental piece in the process of preserving and conserving the biodiversity of agrarian systems, given their participation in rural societies, and in the maintenance of the culture and traditions of local communities.

However, women in these settings continue to face gender inequalities, one of the greatest obstacles to sustainable development. According to UN Women data, rural women suffer disproportionately from the multiple aspects of poverty and do not have the same access to land, credit, agricultural materials or markets. When it comes to agricultural resource ownership, less than 15 percent of agricultural landowners worldwide are women. They also do not enjoy equitable access to public services, such as education and healthcare, or infrastructure, such as water and sanitation. In addition, structural barriers and discriminatory social norms continue to limit rural women’s power in political participation within their communities and households.

Aware that women are key agents in achieving the economic, environmental and social changes necessary for the development and structuring of the territory, the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) supports through the
Emprendeverde Network
and the
Empleaverde+ Programme
the development of projects led by women in rural areas. as well as access to training related to the environment.

On the one hand, the Emprendeverde Network supports different entrepreneurship projects promoted by women in rural areas through training and support programs in dissemination, thus recognizing their contribution to green employment and as active social agents in the generation of wealth and protection of biodiversity.

An example is “Tu ternera en casa“, a meat company located in Murias de Paredes (Omaña, León), within the Biosphere Reserve of the Omaña and Luna Valleys, for which it has the national brand Spanish Biosphere Reserves. It is led by Aída Rodrigo, a lawyer and hotelier, who launched this initiative in 2021 to sell local veal at home through her online store, without intermediaries. Another case is that of Cristina García, biologist and director of Algas La Patrona, whose link with the marine environment was one of her motivations to launch this initiative to produce seaweed for human food in Cambados (Pontevedra).

On the other hand, the Empleaverde+ Programme, co-financed by the ESF+, prioritises the participation of women and people living in rural areas in its projects aimed at acquiring or improving the skills necessary to address new employment or entrepreneurship opportunities within the framework of a green economy.

Likewise, the Biodiversity Foundation, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP), funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU , supports various innovative and transformative projects for the promotion of the bioeconomy and the contribution to the ecological transition.

In this sense, the Global Nature Foundation develops “
Grazing Nature”,
which seeks to value pastoralism as a necessary economic activity in the current context of the demographic challenge for nature conservation, economic recovery and the fight against climate change, making visible the role of women and ensuring their participation in all project activities. For its part, the Trade for Development Foundation (COPADE) is carrying out
“From the forest to your home” (DBC),
with the aim of generating innovative economic initiatives led by women to give sustainable use to non-timber forest products from Spanish forests.