Ask someone to picture farming, and the image that comes to mind is often a man on a tractor. Yet worldwide it is women who carry out much of the fieldwork, harvesting and processing — mostly unpaid, rarely visible. At Bottega Botanika, more than 80% of our producers are small, women-led operations. That is not a coincidence; it is a deliberate choice to work with people who regenerate soil rather than deplete it, and who preserve variety rather than flatten it.
The invisible work behind the field
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), women made up around 38% of the global agricultural workforce in 2019, with figures markedly higher in some regions and in older surveys. Yet their work is systematically undercounted: weeding and harvesting are traditionally seen as "women's tasks" in many surveys, but rarely appear in official statistics because much of it is unpaid subsistence labour. Access to resources deepens this invisibility. FAO data shows that women farmers receive only a fraction of the agricultural extension services available to male-run farms, and only a minority of extension workers themselves are women. If women had the same access to land, credit and inputs as men, FAO estimates that yields on their land could rise by 20 to 30% — with a measurable effect on global food security.
Rural feminism: more than a slogan
Rural feminism names the political dimension of this work: women's right to land, to fair pay, to a say in what they grow. It is not about romanticising farming, but about making a structural imbalance visible — and supporting an alternative to it with every purchase.
Women's share of global agricultural workforce (2019): 38% (FAO, 2023) Share of extension services reaching women farmers: ≈ 5% (FAO / IAASTD) Potential yield increase with equal resource access: 20–30% (FAO) Bottega Botanika producers that are women-led: > 80% (Bottega Botanika)
FAQ
What share of the global agricultural workforce is female? The FAO put it at around 38% in 2019, with considerable regional variation. Older surveys and regions with high subsistence farming often show notably higher figures.
What does "rural feminism" actually mean? It refers to the push for equal rights for women in agriculture: access to land, credit, extension services and decision-making power — alongside the preservation of small-scale, ecological growing methods.
Why does Bottega Botanika prioritise working with women producers? Because more than 80% of our partner farms are women-led operations that prioritise soil health, varietal diversity and fair, direct trading relationships — values at the core of our philosophy.
Does greater participation by women actually improve food security? Yes. The FAO estimates that equal access to resources could raise yields on women-farmed land by 20 to 30%, with a direct effect on local and global food supply.
SOURCES
[1] FAO (2023). The Status of Women in Agrifood Systems. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome. https:/ /openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/e34863d6-a08a-465e-8d65-2b38f611946d/content/status-women-agrifood-syst ems-2023/chapter1.html [2] FAO. The role of women in agriculture. https://www.fao.org/family-farming/detail/en/c/273446/ [3] Global Agriculture / IAASTD (2012). Women in Agriculture. https://www.globalagriculture.org/topics/women-in-agriculture/ [4] FAO (2023). Women's equality in agrifood systems could boost the global economy by $1 trillion. https://www.fao.org/investmen t-centre/latest/news/detail/Women-s-equality-in-agrifood-systems-could-boost-the-global-economy-by-1-trillion-reduce-food-insecur ity-by-45-million-new-FAO-report/en
