Agroecology

ActionAid and partners have been promoting and developing agroecology practices, based on the design and implementation of farming systems which are more productive, more sustainable, and less vulnerable.

However, the burden of unpaid care work on rural women farmers often means they don’t have the time to learn about and to practice sustainable productivity. And even if women smallholder farmers are able to increase productivity, limited access to markets is a major barrier to increasing their income. They receive unfair treatment from buyers and lack information about the current market situation, finance and other resources required to get their produce to market. What’s more, underrepresentation at the household or community level and high unpaid care workload make it hard for them to learn about or engage in these areas.

The POWER project supported women with tools and knowledge to practice agroecology. This was both to secure their livelihoods and productivity in the longer term and also to reduce unpaid care work. The POWER project addressed unpaid care work simultaneously to ensure women have enough time to learn about and practice these methods. The POWER project also worked to overcome the challenges around access to markets by building the capacity of women farmers, addressing unpaid care work, and recommending that national and regional institutions support markets and public services that are more gender sensitive.