Empowering landless women through collectives in the agrifood systems: A review

Abstract

Collectives are viewed as agents for women's economic empowerment in the Agrifood System through
collective action. Globally, women constitute about 36% of employed people in AFS and almost half of
the workforce in the food processing and services sector. As such, empowering women in the agrifood
systems is a vital prerequisite for fostering a fair and peaceful world as well as enhancing women’s
income and wellbeing. This review explores how collectives can empower vulnerable and often landless
women in the agri-food sector. The review highlights the types of collectives, the level of formality and
how that affects women’s participation in collectives. Broadly, the role of collectives in women
empowerment can be described as being economical, social or political empowerment. However, for a
full and effective empowerment of women, there must be an enabling ecosystem of formal laws, rules
and regulations and informal social norms, religious beliefs and customs favouring collectivization. There
also need to be favourable socio-economic and cultural factors that allow for women's ability and
willingness to collectivize. Women collectives can potentially improve women’s income-earning
opportunities, access to financial resources, and other social outcomes. However, collectives still face
challenges such as inadequate access to productive resources, insufficient participation of women in
decision-making, structural and cultural gender constraints, and the overburden of collectives with
women empowerment.