Empowering women towards sustainable and equitable food systems

The theme for International Women's Day 2025 is 'For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.' This year's theme calls for action that can unlock equal rights, power, and opportunities for all and a future where no one is left behind. Central to this vision is empowering the next generation—youth, particularly young women and adolescent girls—as catalysts for lasting change.

Women play pivotal roles in food systems as producers, workers, processors, distributors, traders, and consumers. They sustain household nutritional security. Yet, women in agricultural production often face difficult conditions due to prevailing gender inequalities and discriminatory norms.

On the occasion of IWD 2025, CGIAR Gender Equality and Inclusion Accelerator and African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) are convening an event together with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and CIFOR-ICRAF to mark this important day. In line with the theme, the event will illuminate how we can pay conscious attention to ALL women and girls, considering women’s diverse contributions to agrifood systems, and how they are positioned within the systems and present strategies to close the gender divide not just between women and men, but also between women in different contexts.

This event will feature expert discussion drawing from the forthcoming report on the 'Status of Women in African Agrifood Systems in sub-Saharan Africa,' which will analyze evidence on women's role in agrifood systems in the African context.

The event will also bring together key stakeholders from CGIAR and other actors in the food systems and highlight why investing in women's empowerment and gender equality is a pathway to a sustainable and resilient future for agrifood systems.