We, the women farmers and leaders from across Asia, representing the women members of our organizations and cooperatives, gathered at the 12th General Assembly of the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), held on October 13–15, 2026, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to share our experiences, celebrate our contributions, and bring forward the voices, priorities, and aspirations of the women farmers we represent.
We grow rice, corn, vegetables, fruits, and other crops. We raise livestock, catch fish, conserve seeds, and produce food for our families, communities, schools, and markets.
We are developing solutions. We practice organic, sustainable farming, produce organic fertilizers, manage irrigation systems, and develop climate-resilient farms. We process and market our products, establish small enterprises, and create livelihood opportunities for women.
We are also leaders. We lead women’s groups, cooperatives, water user groups, and farmers’ organizations. We organize training, manage revolving funds, share our knowledge, and support other women farmers.
We are not only food producers. We are entrepreneurs, innovators, knowledge holders, and leaders. We are already leading solutions.
However, we continue to face many challenges. Climate change affects our crops, livestock, fisheries, water resources, and livelihoods. Many of us still have limited access to land, finance, irrigation, technology, training, and markets. High production and certification costs make it difficult to grow our businesses. Many women also lack social and health protection.
Our work and contributions are not always recognized. We continue to face discrimination, unequal responsibilities at home, and limited opportunities to participate in decisions that affect our lives.
As we commemorate the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026, our consultations have highlighted the need for stronger and more coordinated action to advance the rights, resources, and agency of women farmers, fishers, and pastoralists. We call for greater investment in women’s livelihoods and enterprises, practical training and learning, climate resilience, social protection, and meaningful participation in leadership and decision-making.
We recognize farmers’ organizations and cooperatives as important platforms for providing services that respond to women’s needs, strengthening collective action, and bringing women’s voices into policies and decisions.
Together, we stand united in advancing three connected priorities: our rights, our resources, and our agency.
1. First, our rights. We call for recognition, equality, and protection
We affirm our rights as women farmers, fishers, forest users, pastoralists, livestock keepers, agricultural workers, entrepreneurs, and leaders. We call for:
Policies that protect women’s rights and respond to the needs of women in rural communities.
- Recognition and equal rights for women as farmers, fishers, producers, entrepreneurs, and leaders.
- Secure rights to land and natural resources, including water, seeds, forests, and fisheries, and the right to access, use, manage, inherit, and make decisions about these resources.
- Social and health protection for women farmers and agricultural workers, including support when extreme weather and disasters cause crop, livestock, or livelihood losses.
- Safe communities and workplaces free from violence, harassment, and discrimination.
2. Second, our resources. We call for fair access to resources, greater opportunities, and sustainable livelihoods
We seek greater investment and support to improve our farms, enterprises, and livelihoods. Our priorities include:
- Better access to finance, including affordable loans, financial literacy training, revolving funds, livelihood resilience funds, and fair access to climate finance.
- Support for women-led enterprises, including training, business management, product development, processing, packaging, labeling, branding, and marketing.
- Better market opportunities, including stronger market links for organic products and forgotten crops.
- Climate-resilient farming and livelihoods, including support for agroecology, organic farming, seed production, sustainable fisheries, water management, irrigation, and appropriate technologies.
- Practical training and learning, especially in rural communities, through practical and farmer-to-farmer learning, and national, regional, and international exchanges.
- Women as trainers and innovators, including support for local women farmer trainers, product development, and sharing of traditional knowledge and local solutions.
- Stronger farmers’ organizations and cooperatives as platforms for providing services that respond to women’s needs, including access to finance, training, information, technology, and markets, while strengthening collective action and women’s participation.
3. Third, our agency. We call for stronger voices, meaningful leadership, and a say in decisions that affect our lives
We affirm our ability to make decisions, take action, lead our organizations, and shape the future of our communities. We call for:
- Stronger women’s leadership, through training in leadership, good governance, financial management, and organizational management.
- Meaningful participation in decision-making, at home, in communities, farmers’ organizations, cooperatives, and government institutions.
- More women and young leaders, with greater opportunities to take leadership positions, and influence decisions in farmers’ organizations and cooperatives.
- Stronger women’s organizations and networks, including women’s groups and committees as platforms for learning, collective action, and leadership.
- Women’s voices in policies, with greater representation in local, national, regional, and international discussions on agriculture, climate change, finance, and rural development.
- Better information and evidence, through collecting and sharing information on women farmers’ needs, experiences, contributions, and solutions, and using digital tools to improve services and support policy discussions.
We believe that our rights, resources, and agency must go together.
We call on governments, development partners, research institutions, the private sector, and other stakeholders to recognize our contributions, respect our rights, listen to our voices, and invest in the solutions we are already leading. We call for sustained investment and stronger support for women farmers, fishers, and pastoralists, including through farmers’ organizations and cooperatives, to build sustainable and climate-resilient food systems.
As we commemorate the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 and the International Day of Rural Women, we affirm that recognition alone is not enough. We need concrete action, sustained support, and meaningful opportunities to shape the decisions that affect our lives and livelihoods.
We are women farmers. We are producers, entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders. We are not only asking for change. We are already leading it.
Together, we commit to strengthening our organizations, sharing our knowledge and solutions, supporting more women and young farmers to lead, and advancing our rights, resources, and agency. Through solidarity and collective action, we will continue to lead solutions and shape a better future for women farmers and our communities.
