By Sharon Atieno Onyango
With women contributing nearly half of the agrifood systems workforce across sub-Saharan Africa, countries have been called to move from commitment to tangible transformation. This includes addressing issues that hinders women’s progress.
Anne Wangombe, the principal secretary of the Kenya State Department for Gender Affairs and Affirmative Action said that unpaid care work remains a significant burden limiting women from achieving their full potential.
She made the remarks during the International Women’s Day (IWD) commemoration held at the World Agroforestry Campus in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi in a speech read on her behalf by Halima Abdi, acting director general gender-based violence (GBV), State department of gender affairs.
“We cannot speak about competitive agrifood systems without addressing an often invisible barrier that is unpaid care and domestic work for the women. Women cannot scale their enterprises or participate meaningfully in markets if they remain disproportionately burdened,” Wangombe said.
“If we want productivity in agriculture, we must invest in care systems. If we want women in leadership, we must address time poverty. And if we want justice, we must rebalance responsibility.”
She called for promotion of public and private investment in care infrastructure, expanding access to child care services, and encouraging a shared responsibility between women and men.
Sharing these responsibilities, Wangombe said, will free time for the women to be able to engage in economic activities. Care is not a private issue, it is an economic issue.
With climate change adversely affecting women farmers, she noted that equitable agricultural systems must integrate climate smart agricultural practices, access to climate information, drought resistance crops and green financing opportunities targeted at women-led enterprises.
Dr. Nicoline de Haan, Director CGIAR Gender Equality and Inclusion Accelerator, said there is need to close the gender gap in agrifood systems. If action is not taken, it could take a century to achieve this.
“We are behind and out of time. Rights and justice for women matter especially in the food systems because this not only benefits women but the entire communities at large,” Dr.Haan said.
She observed that the digital revolution offers a solution to the gender gap but caution should be taken so that women are not left behind.
“Evidence shows that women are significantly less likely to own smartphones or have access to digital tools. If we’re not intentional, digital transformation could deepen inequalities rather than close them. Let us ensure that large language models and AI tools respond to women’s realities too,” Dr. Haan urged.
She called for a holistic approach which aims to achieve sustainable change by addressing both technological access and underlying social and legal empowerment.
“You don’t just give a woman a pump to make sure she can use the pump. You make sure that she understands what her laws and rights are. That’s how you change things. Just giving a woman a pump or checking if the pump works is not enough,” Dr. Haan stressed.
On her part, Dr. Susan Kaaria, Director, African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) noted that there is need for gender disaggregated data which clearly shows women’s situation in agrifood systems.
Majority (90%) of women in agrifood systems work in informal areas or informal roles, but because there is no data collected on this informality, it is not easy to make a case for policy that allows them to access adequate social protection and established support systems, she said.
The theme for the IWD 2026, was “Rights. Justice. Action: Co-creating Equitable Agri-food systems with women at the centre.” It coincides with the United Nations declaration of 2026 as the year of the woman farmer.
“The international year of the woman farmer really offers us a unique global platform to elevate women farmers’ voices, to recognize the multiple roles that they play, but also to mobilize political will and action, partnerships and the investments that we need in order to address gender equality, promote women’s empowerment, and really support women’s role in agri-food systems,” Dr. Kaaria noted.
The event was convened by CGIAR Gender Equality and Inclusion Accelerator and AWARD, in partnership with the CIFOR-ICRAF, and the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe).
