October 15 is the UN International Day of Rural Women. This day, which was first established in 2008 recognizes “the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.”
Gender inequity plays a special role within agriculture, as women are often pivotal to ensure household food security. Yet they are often not given access to resources or have little decision-making power. Improving equity therefore, means allowing the men and women affected by development to have a say in how resources are used. It also means helping decision makers to guarantee policies promote fair access to agriculture and natural resources. Gender, poverty, and institutions are therefore interlinked, and cannot be dealt with independently.
Citations for gender & agriculture infographic facts
1.) & 2.) FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). n.d. Climate change, biofuels and land. Rome, Italy: FAO. Available at ftp://ftp.fao.org/nr/HLCinfo/Land-Infosheet-En.pdf (accessed on September 29, 2014).
3.) Stoparic, B. 2006. Climate change is a women’s issue. Women’s e-News, April 8. Available at http://www.alternet.org/story/38659 (accessed on September 29, 2014).
4.) WfWP (Women for Water Partnership). 2004. Role of women in management of water and sanitation: A case of Chadeni VDC. Available at http://www.womenforwater.org/docs/Nepal.pdf (accessed on September 29, 2014).
5.) Gurung, J.D.; Mwanundu, S.; Lubbock, A.; Hartl, M.; Firmian, I. 2006. Gender and desertification: Expanding roles for women to restore dryland areas. Rome, Italy: International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). p. 5. Available at http://www.ifad.org/pub/gender/desert/gender_desert.pdf (accessed on September 29, 2014).
6.) Chidzero, A.; Ellis, K.; Kumar, A. 2006. Indicators of access to finance through household level surveys: Comparisons of data from six countries. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute and World Bank.
7.) IFC (International Finance Corporation). 2006. Access to credit for businesswomen in Indonesia. Washington, DC: IFC. Available at http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/88095f0048855b358824da6a6515bb18/CreditAccessIndonesia.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=88095f0048855b358824da6a6515bb18 (accessed on September 29, 2014).
8.) Van Crowder, L. 1996. Enrolment of women in agricultural studies at intermediate and higher levels of education. Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
9.) FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2011. Men and women in agriculture: Closing the gap. Rome, Italy: FAO. Available at http://www.fao.org/sofa/gender/key-facts/en/ (accessed on September 29, 2014).
10.) Mjoli, N.; Nenzhelele, R. 2009. Assessment of gender equity in water user associations. Water Research Commission. Available at http://www.wrc.org.za/Knowledge%20Hub%20Documents/Research%20Reports/KV-219-09.pdf (accessed on October 10, 2014).
11.) Caldes, N.; Ahmed, A.U. 2004. Food for education: A review of program impacts. Prepared for the Millennium Task Force on Hunger. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
12.) FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2011. Women in agriculture: Closing the gender gap for development. The state of food and agriculture 2010-11. Rome, Italy: FAO. Available at http://www.fao.org/publications/sofa/2010-11/en/ (accessed on September 29, 2014).
Population pressure and increasing water competition in a changing climate require us to take stock of the availability and use of water across scales. Water availability not only influences farmers’ commercial prospects but also irrigation-related enterprises and agri-businesses. Greater water scarcity could jeopardize irrigation and agricultural markets while excessive water use can lead to declining ecosystems, water quality and soil health. IWMI advises development partners and the public and private sectors on all aspects of water resource availability and use through a variety of advanced modeling and remote-sensing products and tools, including 
The ability of farmers to engage in or expand irrigation depends on the prevailing socioeconomic, ecological and political contexts, which are often complex, non-linear and changeable. Overcoming systemic barriers to farmer-led irrigation development while taking advantage of existing opportunities 
A lack of affordable credit, particularly for women and resource-poor farmers, is one of the main barriers to expanding farmer-led irrigation in low- and middle-income countries. But 
Scaling farmer-led irrigation requires strengthening human capacity and knowledge exchange among all actors and stakeholders involved. IWMI takes an action research approach, working with national and international research institutions, governments, extension agents and public and private organizations to co-develop the scaling ecosystem and strengthen capacity to drive scaling networks and collective action. We support the