The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture
Abstract
A profound shift is occurring among women working in agriculture-they are increasingly seeing themselves as farmers, not only as the wives or daughters of farmers. The authors draw on more than a decade of research to document and analyze the reasons for the transformation. As their sense of identity changes, many female farmers are challenging the sexism they face in their chosen profession. In this book, farm women in the northeastern United States describe how they got into farming and became successful entrepreneurs despite the barriers they encountered in agricultural institutions, farming communities, and even their own families. Their strategies for obtaining land and labor and developing successful businesses offer models for other aspiring farmers. Pulling down the barriers that women face requires organizations and institutions to become informed by what the authors call a feminist agrifood systems theory (FAST). This framework values women’s ways of knowing and working in agriculture: emphasizing personal, economic, and environmental sustainability, creating connections through the food system, and developing networks that emphasize collaboration and peer-to-peer education. The creation and growth of a specific organization, the Pennsylvania Women’s Agricultural Network, offers a blueprint for others seeking to incorporate a feminist agrifood systems approach into agricultural programming. The theory has the potential to shift how farmers, agricultural professionals, and anyone else interested in farming think about gender and sustainability, as well as to change how feminist scholars and theorists think about agriculture.
... Turning to agriculture, women entrepreneurs have been promoting sustainable and multifunctional forms of agriculture and developing short food chains and other alternative food systems (Hoppe and Korb 2013;Seuneke and Bock 2015;Sachs et al. 2016;Wright and Annes 2016;Annes and Wright 2017;Bock and Shortfall 2017;Annes et al. 2021;Azima and Mundler 2022;Dentzman et al. 2023). The care ethics they exhibit (Azima and Mundler 2022) is similar to the "dialogic masculinity" views male farmers may also embrace in agriculture (Peter et al. 2000, p. 215; Annes and Handfield 2019). ...
... The care ethics they exhibit (Azima and Mundler 2022) is similar to the "dialogic masculinity" views male farmers may also embrace in agriculture (Peter et al. 2000, p. 215; Annes and Handfield 2019). Yet, despite the sense of empowerment that women farmers derive from their work, many find it hard to balance work and family life, face resistance from male colleagues with "monologic masculinity" views (Peter et al. 2000, p. 215), and struggle to have their identity as farmers recognized in a sector that continues to be maledominated (Sachs et al. 2016;Bock and Shortfall 2017;Tarjem and Tufan 2023). ...
... Historically, this ideology has been resistant to empowerment efforts by women farmers, who are often labeled as "incomplete farmers" or non "authentic" farmers (Annes and Wright 2016;Bock and Shortfall, 2017). At the same time, however, female producers, particularly those involved in sustainable agriculture and alternative food systems (Sachs et al. 2016;Dentzman et al. 2023), have begun challenging this dominant view of what it means to be a farmer. While progress in this respect has certainly been achieved, the entrepreneurial ecosystem that underpins the farm sector continues, in many ways, to reflect male-centric perspectives, limiting the capacity of women farmers to pursue entrepreneurship and empowerment. ...
This paper investigates how the business models adopted by single-owner women farmers are impacted by the entrepreneurial ecosystem in which they operate. We explored these interactions from the perspective of entrepreneurial capital to better understand the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs starting their own farms. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 single-owner women farmers in Quebec. Our results indicate that single-owner women farmers often start farming at a mid-point in their careers, are motivated by strong social and agroecological values, but must navigate a traditional and gendered entrepreneurial ecosystem that limits opportunities to leverage financial, social and symbolic capital to grow their mostly alternative business models. However, single-owner women farmers also mobilize entrepreneurial capital and innovative business strategies to assert their identity as women farmers and grow their businesses with varying degrees of success. This was often achieved by developing strong partnerships with key stakeholders and by marketing through alternative channels, such as short food supply chains. We derive several research propositions to guide future research on this topic.
... White heteropatriarchal dominance details interconnected structural inequities that systematically exclude racial, gender, and sexual minorities from accessing resources (Hoffelmeyer et al. 2023;Leslie et al. 2019). In agriculture, the white heteropatriarchal dominance ingrained in U.S. farming systematically excludes certain groups from land, capital, and other resources required for agriculture (Leslie 2019;Sachs et al. 2016;White 2018;Wypler 2019). Efforts to confront such inequities include a host of movements to increase justice and sustainability. ...
... Where have gender and feminist agrifood inequalities been in the alternative agrifood and food justice movements? On the one hand, the alternative agrifood movement has bolstered gender minorities' involvement in farming, making alternative agriculture and feminist agrifood efforts often synergistic (Sachs et al. 2016). Because of heteropatriarchal barriers to land, capital, and training, smaller-scale and direct market production-characteristics of alternative agriculture-are more accessible to gender minorities (Hoffelmeyer 2021;Leslie 2017Leslie , 2019Sachs et al. 2016). ...
... On the one hand, the alternative agrifood movement has bolstered gender minorities' involvement in farming, making alternative agriculture and feminist agrifood efforts often synergistic (Sachs et al. 2016). Because of heteropatriarchal barriers to land, capital, and training, smaller-scale and direct market production-characteristics of alternative agriculture-are more accessible to gender minorities (Hoffelmeyer 2021;Leslie 2017Leslie , 2019Sachs et al. 2016). Although gender in agriculture research has primarily investigated cis-gender women's experiences and sometimes cis-gender men (Peter et al. 2000), a growing body of literature documents how non-binary, transgender, and queer farmers enter alternative agriculture for reasons surrounding the potential for social acceptance and economic accessibility (Hoffelmeyer 2021;Leslie 2017Leslie , 2019. ...
Farmers, especially those within historically underserved populations, utilize networks to access educational training, community support, and market opportunities. Through a case study of the Pennsylvania Women's Agriculture Network's three-year Women's Rural–Urban Network (WRUN) initiative, this research analyzes the process of developing solidarity across geographic and racial lines while building a statewide farmers' network. Applying White's (2018) Collective Agency Community Resilience (CACR) theoretical framework to this initiative offers a way to evaluate how socially marginalized groups in agriculture build farmers’ networks to resist oppression within the white heteropatriarchal agricultural system. This research draws on interviews with 12 steering committee members and three years of participant observation to understand how participants assessed the initiative. Findings suggest that changes to existing programming were influential in creating a place for diverse women farmers and growers to meet, thus contributing to prefigurative politics; however, the inability to form commons as praxis and economic autonomy due to divergent needs, varying roles in the agrifood system, and different levels of engagement with racial justice deterred network-building efforts. This initiative examines food justice theory through praxis. Findings offer insights for predominately white non-profits, research institutions, and activists in future anti-racism and food justice efforts in the agrifood system.
... In terms of goals, the individuals currently farming are looking to expand and diversify their operations, both in size and in markets. In contrast to the goals of women farmers in Pennsylvania [24], who are also an emerging farming group, Latinx farmers have more of what are considered traditional goals, such as increasing land size and profits. However, two individuals discussed their goals of having destination and education-type farms. ...
... Despite Latinx's interest in connecting with other farmers for mentorship and networking experiences and/or business support, the study findings and the process of referral sampling revealed that Latinx farmers in Pennsylvania have an extensive network gap. Sachs et al. [24] indicated that "networks provide programs and activities that facilitate shared knowledge about business and farming practices and provide space for legitimizing their role as farmers" [24] (p. 146). ...
... Despite Latinx's interest in connecting with other farmers for mentorship and networking experiences and/or business support, the study findings and the process of referral sampling revealed that Latinx farmers in Pennsylvania have an extensive network gap. Sachs et al. [24] indicated that "networks provide programs and activities that facilitate shared knowledge about business and farming practices and provide space for legitimizing their role as farmers" [24] (p. 146). ...
Latinx/Hispanic farmers are an underrepresented group with the largest number of farm operators in the US. However, agricultural educators have encountered challenges in identifying Latinx farmers in Pennsylvania and consequently, in meeting their needs. This study aims to contribute to improved agricultural programming by offering an exploratory overview of Latinx farmers in the Commonwealth, and to bring to light the experiences of Extension educators when working with Latinxs in the agricultural context. Qualitative research interviews were conducted with seventeen Latinxs at different stages of their farming journey, and with twelve educators with experience in agriculture programming and outreach to Latinxs. Latinx farmers discussed the characteristics, goals, challenges, and solutions of their farming operations. Educators discussed their motivations to serve Latinx farmers, the challenges they face in meeting their needs, and the implementation of targeted strategies for successful programming. Both groups discussed challenges they believe Latinx farmers face due to their ethnicity and provided recommendations to better serve the Latinx farming population. Based on the findings, agricultural educators could support Latinx farmers by developing statewide programming, including programming in Spanish, having employers allocate a percentage of educators’ responsibilities to connecting with this audience, creating a Latinx farmers’ network, partnering with organizations connected with Latinx farmers, participating in cultural competency training, and promoting stories of success. Our methodology and findings can be adapted to educators in other locations working with minority populations.
... According to agrarian ideology, there could be four main difficulties that prevent women from working in agriculture and getting proper recognition as farmers.First, patriarchal farm beliefs and practices that preserve obstacles for women are seen in agricultural areas, where the man is the head of the family and also the farmer (Sachs et al., 2016). Second, financial hurdles. ...
... Second, financial hurdles. Due to their lower likelihood of inheriting, women particularly face barriers to owning land and finance (Sachs et al., 2016).Third, growing usage of expensive equipment and technology in agriculture. Farm equipment typically separates the jobs of men and women (Beach, 2013). ...
... And finally, agricultural institutions' pervasive sexism. Institutions of the agriculture industry seem reluctant to involve women farmers in their projects (Sachs et al., 2016). Thus, each of these four problems leads to a sexist farming ideology. ...
This research focuses on the gender differences in agriculture in the village of Baje Mazkur in Kaunia Upazila. It demonstrates gender disparities in agriculture and elucidates the factors which prevent female farmers from receiving adequate recognition in a variety of ways in the study region. The study used a qualitative method to collect data and data has been analyzed from gender perspectives. To understand the work nature of female farmers, their struggles, and the reason for unrecognition the Agrarian Ideology and The Longwe Framework have been used. It shows that female farmers in the study area engage themselves in a variety of farming activities but their contribution to agriculture is viewed solely as family responsibilities where women are not recognized for their contribution. Female farmers are often unable to utilize their full potential because they are denied various extension services or support from government and non-government organizations. The findings also show that a lack of access to land, finance, and other resources are the most significant barriers to female farmers. Though the situation is gradually improving, women farmers continue to be paid less than men. Vol. 10, No. 1, April 2023: 09-19
... Inspired by the work on Feminist Agri-Food Systems Theory (FAST), developed by Sachs et al. (2016), we will try and shed light on the transformations happening in Greek agriculture, especially those that relate to women farmers. Through the life stories of women farmers in the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace in Greece, one of the three regions in the country with high numbers of female farms, and by using the FAST model and its six axes as a theoretical framework, we will discuss the transformations occurring at a personal, collective and institutional level. ...
... The originality of the present research is further enhanced by the fact that it is one of the first attempts to apply the FAST model in a European context. Wright and Annes (2020) were the first to follow the original work of Sachs et al. (2016) in the US, trying to test the external validity of the model in another geographical context but also in the EU. Recently, Fernandez-Gimenez et al. (2021) used the model to describe the power relations and discriminations faced by women livestock breeders in Spain. ...
... Feminisation and gender equality in agriculture are associated with labour and farm management; more specifically, they are reflected in the increase in the number of agricultural activities that women engage in, the number of their farm-working hours, their greater access to agricultural income and, most importantly, their greater involvement in decision-making (De Brauw et al., 2008;Deere, 2005;Sachs et al., 2016). De Schutter (2013), when presenting the case of developing countries in Asia, argues that the feminisation of agriculture can be the result of three phenomena: male migration, the movement from self-consumption to selling products in the local market and finally women's employment as workers on large-scale farms (De Schutter, 2013). ...
Women farmers’ experiences are not necessarily homogeneous between contexts, and overall different social structures might have different spillover effects into agriculture. Despite the so‐called ‘feminisation’ of Greek agriculture—manifested as an increase in the proportion of officially registered farm heads being female and recognition of female contribution to farming—the question remains of how fast these changes do transform the role of women in Greek agriculture and how far they reach in terms of changing contested gender identities in a still male‐dominant sector. This article, inspired by the recent work on Feminist Agri‐Food Systems Theory (FAST), tries to shed light on these transformations by collecting official data, working with local experts–informants and conducting in‐depth qualitative interviews with 71 women farmers in Greece. We advocate for indicators of transformation by using women's life stories and the FAST as a theoretical lens. According to our results, the increasing visibility of women in agriculture did not activate any dynamic renegotiation of the hierarchical and pre‐defined gender roles within the family and local society. Overall, multiple roles and tasks remain still challenging in the daily routine of women farmers. However, in contrast to the past, there are different pathways to enter agriculture, and despite all barriers, women's self‐perception as farmers is quite empowered in the study area. They are younger than the national average, their farm size is larger than average, they prefer value‐added production and they seek tailored agricultural extension services and peer‐to‐peer knowledge through informal networks. For the further theoretical development of the FAST model, and advancing the state of the art, we reflect on some additional axes and indicators resulting from its application in the Greek context.
... Particularly, we focus on women farmers working on dairy farms and who are involved in a non-mixed professional organization. Agricultural networks and organizations are critical in bringing technical and social changes on farms (Sachs et al., 2016). They allow farmers to access resources, skills and information, they also provide the social support necessary to cope with the uncertain consequences of setting up new agricultural practices. ...
... The gendered structure of agriculture For the past decades, women's experiences in agriculture in the Global North have significantly evolved. From positions of invisibility, they are now considered as key actors of the agricultural sector, especially due to their involvement in practices strongly departing from productivist agriculture (Giraud and Rémy, 2013;Sachs et al., 2016;Annes and Wright, 2017). These types of agricultural activities, requiring new sets of skills for farmers (such as processing food, selling and marketing products, welcoming guests on the farm, etc.), give value to other types of knowledge. ...
... In fact, research shows that agricultural extension training and services are mainly geared toward men (Adesugba et al., 2020). In Northern America or in Western Europe, for instance, women farmers find not only training inappropriate to their needs, but also feel unwelcome, overlooked and invisible (Sachs et al., 2016;Shortall et al., 2017;Le Brun et al., 2019). For instance, Sachs et al. (2016, p. 95) argue that "many organizations have not fully accepted women as farmers and have not sought to advance gender equity in agriculture." ...
Women professional organizations appear as a resource for women to foster change in power relations on their farm. In this manuscript, we explore to what extent participation in a non-mixed professional organization named Groupe Femmes 44 contributed to transformations of women farmers' work. Particularly, we question the role of women farmers in the transition of their farming system toward agroecological principles and the conditions of their empowerment within their farm which allows these transitions. Our results show that Groupe Femmes 44 represents a socio-professional environment allowing women farmers to discuss, to put words and find answers on technical, communicational, organization as well as social issues. It allowed some participants to discover the existence, the relevance, and the more ecological dimension of self-sufficient and autonomous systems. Therefore, it stood as a key resource to foster professional transition toward these systems. For the women who were already involved in such systems, Groupe Femmes 44 contributes to the transition toward more equitable systems by questioning work organization and gender inequality.
... First, our work is informed by research in feminist rural geography and sociology that document women's contributions to agriculture and natural resources (e.g., Sachs 1983) and analyzes women's intertwined roles in agricultural production and social and biological reproduction, exposing gendered power relations and inequities within farming households (Whatmore 1991, Shortall 1999) and farm organizations and communities (Sachs 1996). Recent work shows how tensions between productive and reproductive roles play out in dueling identities of farm women, farm wives, and women farmers (Brasier et al. 2014, Smyth et al. 2018, Shisler and Sbicca 2019 and reveals that women farmers often lead agricultural innovation like use of organic methods (Sachs et al. 2016) and farm diversification (Seuneke andBock 2015, Fhlatharta andFarrell 2017). However, none of this work focuses specifically on women livestock producers. ...
... These individuals, families, or collective initiatives (mostly groups of young urban dwellers) aim to revitalize abandoned low-productivity land or towns, especially in mountain regions, and to (re-)establish an agricultural model that generates social, cultural, economic, and ecological richness under sustainability principles (Sevilla Guzmán and González de Molina 1993). As in studies on new alternative agrifood models and rural innovation elsewhere (e.g., Sachs et al. 2016 Other existing research on rural restructuring and gender has centered on women's contributions to farm work or participation in rural economic diversification, especially rural tourism (Garcia Ramón 2005). However, the fate of rural Spain, generally, and of extensive livestock management systems and the cultural landscapes they maintain, remain open and pressing questions, and women's roles within pastoral systems remain unexamined. ...
... Women's contributions to conservation and innovation in extensive livestock production are not new (Sachs et al. 2016) but have evolved and shifted over several generations. Although acknowledging that resilience is not always desirable, we focus on women's contributions to the continuity of socially valued pastoral SES. ...
Pastoral social-ecological systems (SES) provide myriad benefits to humanity and face multiple challenges in the 21st century, including interacting climate and land-use change, political marginalization, and demographic shifts, leading to loss of traditional knowledge and practices associated with sustainable use. Research and policy increasingly recognize women's roles in sustaining pastoral SES in the Global South, yet women pastoralists in the Global North have received scant attention. In Spain, like other countries in the Global North, the rise of intensive industrialized agriculture contributed to rural depopulation, land abandonment, and the masculinization of rural spaces. In this qualitative study, we address the empirical gap in studies of women pastoralists in the Global North by investigating Spanish women pastoralists' roles in pastoral SES conservation, adaptive transformation, and abandonment (regime shift). Drawing on in-depth life-history interviews with 31 women from 4 regions of Spain, and participatory workshops with women in each region, we explored women pastoralists' diverse identities and roles in conserving, transforming, and abandoning pastoral SES, focusing on 3 levels of social organization: the household/enterprise and local community, the extensive livestock sector, and society broadly. We found that women contributed to all three processes and we highlight synergies between women's roles as tradition-keepers and change agents that could serve as a leverage point for adaptive transformation. Our analysis also revealed key contradictions in women's material and discursive practices; how these are shaped by intersecting axes of social differences such as age, class, origins. and family status; and their implications for policy and practice to foster adaptive transformation of extensive livestock systems. This work advances SES/resilience research by addressing social science critiques of resilience approaches through the application of feminist theories and methodology that center the voices and subjective lived experiences of women pastoralists and attend to the roles of gender and power in SES dynamics.
... The high interest in water quality from these women may stem from their holistic approach to farm management, especially in diverse operations that include livestock. Sachs et al. (2016) highlight that women farmers enhance biodiversity on their farms through diverse cropping and livestock integration, with many utilizing pasture planting, nutrient management plans, grassed waterways, and riparian buffers for conservation. They recognize the synergies between the off-farm impacts (e.g., water quality) and livestock. ...
... For the low interest in carbon credits and energy contracts, while women understand their potential benefits, the complexities and costs associated with altering farm management-particularly for those operating both crops and livestock-might demotivate them from pursuing these practices. As one interviewee in Sachs et al. (2016) noted, balancing a small-scale diversified livestock farm with off-farm employment constrains the labor and time available for farm activities. ...
Women own or co-own almost half of the land in the US Midwest and women landowners are playing an increasingly important role in production and financial decision-making. Despite their growing influence, women landowners are less engaged in conservation programs and networks, primarily due to inadequate access to conservation services and resources, leading to a scenario where men continue to dominate participation in both governmental and private conservation initiatives. The existing body of literature further echoes this disparity, with women's perspectives and voices markedly underrepresented in the United States' conservation discourse. Aiming to bridge this gap, this article delves into the attitudes of women landowners toward conservation using a 2021 survey conducted with 135 Iowa women landowners. The survey sought to shed light on their interests in various conservation topics, their concerns regarding conservation decision-making, and their preferences concerning the sources of information and the methods through which educational content is delivered. We find that women landowners are most interested in government conservation programs, followed by soil erosion control, soil fertilizer improvement, and cover crops. We provide statistical evidence that more women operating landowners are interested in conservation topics and concerned about conservation issues than women non-operating landowners in general. We further explore the variations in conservation interests among women landowners, considering their demographic and farm-specific characteristics, to highlight the diverse perspectives within this group. Additionally, we examine the preferred channels through which women landowners wish to receive educational information, offering valuable insights for policymaking and extension services. The results underscore a preference for a mix of delivery methods among women landowners, with a particular inclination toward virtual platforms, such as periodic (e-)newsletters and webinars, and printed materials such as fact sheets or infographics, over traditional in-person formats. This nuanced understanding of women landowners' educational preferences and conservation interests serves as a foundational step toward fostering more inclusive conservation programs and networks that effectively engage and represent women in the agricultural sector.
... When surveys began to inquire about gender, researchers and policymakers gained information on the number of women farmers and how gender-based discrimination impacted their success. For example, researchers learned that lenders and educators take women less seriously than men in agriculture, limiting women farmers' financial viability and training opportunities (Sachs et al., 2016). Researchers also identified how women farmers sought to alleviate sexist barriers by entering smaller-scale, high-value production that required less land and capital input; joining women's agriculture networks; and attending women-centered agricultural training (Sachs et al., 2016). ...
... For example, researchers learned that lenders and educators take women less seriously than men in agriculture, limiting women farmers' financial viability and training opportunities (Sachs et al., 2016). Researchers also identified how women farmers sought to alleviate sexist barriers by entering smaller-scale, high-value production that required less land and capital input; joining women's agriculture networks; and attending women-centered agricultural training (Sachs et al., 2016). Today, the USDA considers "women" to be a special category when providing loans and trainings in order to inhibit gender-based discrimination in agriculture. ...
Qualitative studies have begun demonstrating how heteropatriarchy negatively affects queer farmer well-being and farm viability. However, quantitative surveys of farmers rarely ask questions about gender identity and sexual orientation, precluding analyses that could connect farmers’ experiences to their queerness or to heteropatriarchy more broadly. In this article, we present data from one of the first surveys of U.S. queer farmers. This article inquires: (a) What barriers to farm viability and farmer well-being do queer farmers report? (b) How are these barriers related to or influenced by gender and sexuality? (c) How, if at all, do queer farmers mitigate heteropatriarchal barriers in farming? We find that queer farmers explicitly attributed interpersonal areas of discrimination to their queerness—or rather, to heteropatriarchy—especially anticipated discrimination, social isolation, training opportunities and/or lack of skill, and family dynamics. We assert that farmers’ reported challenges to farming success reflect areas of systemic heteropatriarchal oppression, especially in profitability, land access, health insurance, and affordable and/or available housing. At the same time, queer farmers turn to each other for support in navigating the heteropatriarchal landscape of U.S. agriculture. The top area that queer farmers found helpful for their success was LGBTQIA+ farm mentors or peers. Our findings indicate that heteropatriarchy is a central force negatively affecting queer farmers’ well-being and farm viability. This research offers critical information for farmers, farming organizations, scholars, and policymakers to bolster farmers’ contributions to U.S. agriculture and gain a more holistic understanding of (in)equity in U.S. agriculture.
... Since MSIs represent a shift from government regulations to private-interest governance, these programs present new relationships of power and accountability (Cheyns and Riisgaard, 2014). Further, MSI programs may, regardless of what developers might have intended, introduce new inequities, similar to how federal subsidies disproportionately benefit farmers who are white men and large-scale commodity producers (Sachs et al., 2016). For example, agribusiness companies and downstream corporations often have more power in MSIs (Cheyns, 2011;Fuchs et al., 2011). ...
... Furthermore, a study that considers demographic variables may be able to identify how these programs may support certain demographics of farmers. Farmers who are white men disproportionately receive federal financial support for farming (Sachs et al., 2016), but how MSI metrics programs may replicate or attend to inequity in the agrifood system is less well understood. ...
To promote sustainability, multistakeholder initiatives (MSIs) are an emerging form of private governance that brings together diverse stakeholders across the agrifood system to advance sustainable agriculture practices. Previous research on MSIs focuses on the organization and structure of various MSIs through coordinator and management perspectives. In this paper, we examine farmers' experiences of participating in a leading MSI metrics program for U.S. agriculture, Field to Market. Through survey and interview methodology, this paper examines farmers' motivations, perceived benefits and power dynamics within Field to Market's metrics program. We find that although being open to sharing sustainability metrics with buyers, farmers struggled to gain tangible benefits. The majority of farmers considered themselves ‘already sustainable’ in that they made economically efficient farming decisions. As such, participating in Field to Market resulted in little to no changes in farming practices. Because MSI metrics programs work to assist farmers in becoming aware of inefficiencies and encourage changes, the lack of utilizing data generated from the sustainability metrics highlights a significant shortfall of this MSI metrics program. Farmers also perceived buyers as the primary beneficiaries of sustainability metrics since the buyers could now make claims about the sustainability of their products. Additionally, our findings provide nuance related to economic benefits as farmers broadly conceptualized the primary economic benefits as continuing a relationship with buyers who were now asking farmers to join the metrics program and report data. Although the metrics program appears ‘voluntary,’ farmers perceived few other options when asked to report data since sharing data became an apparent baseline for doing business. This paper contributes an understanding of farmers' experiences of engaging with an MSI metrics program, which helps to illuminate the potential implications of these newly emerging approaches to promoting sustainability. Our findings demonstrate that proponents of this newly emerging approach to promoting sustainability may want to consider the distribution of benefits and the power dynamics embedded in these programs since these programs may carry unintended consequences as they are scaled up. Finally, we posit several additional avenues for future research to further elucidate the potential social implications of MSI metrics programs.
... Farm scale and identity are tightly interconnected. Government aid funneled toward large-scale producers means that men -often white and likely heterosexual -reap the benefits of US farm subsidies (Sachs et al., 2016), predominantly because crop subsidies favor wheat, corn, grain, and other staple crops (Howard, 2016), and men tend to be engaged in highly mechanized, capital-intensive production (Sachs et al., 2016). As such, COVID-19 farm aid should center socially disadvantaged farmers. ...
... Farm scale and identity are tightly interconnected. Government aid funneled toward large-scale producers means that men -often white and likely heterosexual -reap the benefits of US farm subsidies (Sachs et al., 2016), predominantly because crop subsidies favor wheat, corn, grain, and other staple crops (Howard, 2016), and men tend to be engaged in highly mechanized, capital-intensive production (Sachs et al., 2016). As such, COVID-19 farm aid should center socially disadvantaged farmers. ...
This chapter addresses the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on women farmers, with a particular focus on our field sites in the Far-Western region of Nepal. We review Nepal’s government response to COVID-19 with regard to the exclusionary effects of relief and recovery measures for women smallholders. In this context, we highlight the importance of local women’s organizations and inclusive (digital) platforms to create awareness of the needs of the most marginalized, and how to effectively reach out to them. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for future research in a post-COVID-19 context.
... Farm scale and identity are tightly interconnected. Government aid funneled toward large-scale producers means that men -often white and likely heterosexual -reap the benefits of US farm subsidies (Sachs et al., 2016), predominantly because crop subsidies favor wheat, corn, grain, and other staple crops (Howard, 2016), and men tend to be engaged in highly mechanized, capital-intensive production (Sachs et al., 2016). As such, COVID-19 farm aid should center socially disadvantaged farmers. ...
... Farm scale and identity are tightly interconnected. Government aid funneled toward large-scale producers means that men -often white and likely heterosexual -reap the benefits of US farm subsidies (Sachs et al., 2016), predominantly because crop subsidies favor wheat, corn, grain, and other staple crops (Howard, 2016), and men tend to be engaged in highly mechanized, capital-intensive production (Sachs et al., 2016). As such, COVID-19 farm aid should center socially disadvantaged farmers. ...
... The title of farmer is typically associated with heterosexual men (Campbell et al., 2006), but over the years, queer farmers have increasingly entered the farming arena. One of the biggest barriers to becoming a farmer, acquiring land, is a gendered process (Sachs et al., 2016). Obtaining farmland often happens through marriage or inheritance, which requires close familial relationships (Pilgeram & Amos, 2015). ...
... These studies suggest a critical evaluation of gender inequalities in farming and shed light on the transformative changes occurring, particularly focusing on women's empowerment and the influence of socio-cultural factors on their farming practices and roles. Emerging women's identities in agriculture are well documented, with an increasing trend of women identifying as farmers rather than merely as farm wives or daughters, challenging traditional gender roles on farms (Bruni et al. 2004;Sachs et al. 2016). Farm tourism's intertwining of gender and work becomes evident as farm-based tourism reshuffles traditional gender roles, leading to more managerial positions for women and diversified tasks for men (Brandth and Haugen 2010). ...
This paper presents a comprehensive bibliometric review of the scientific literature on women’s entrepreneurship in agriculture across developed and developing countries. The paper delineates the evolving landscape, challenges, and opportunities that shape women’s entrepreneurship experiences in agriculture in the contexts of developed and developing countries. Through a detailed bibliometric analysis of 728 papers from 1992 to 2022, employing performance analysis and science mapping, our methodology distinguishes itself by quantifying contributions and mapping the thematic evolution within this domain. Our study reveals the significant contributions of women entrepreneurs to agricultural innovation, sustainability, and rural development while facing systemic biases, limited access to resources, and societal stereotypes that hinder their entrepreneurial path. The paper underscores the disparity in women’s entrepreneurship between developed and developing regions, with developed countries showcasing lower participation rates in agricultural entrepreneurship but a higher presence in decision-making roles within agribusinesses.
In contrast, developing countries display a higher engagement of women in entrepreneurship, driven by necessity and marked by significant contributions to food security and economic stability, though under challenging conditions. Notably, the paper highlights the underrepresentation of women’s agricultural endeavours in scholarly research, pointing to a gap in the documentation and understanding of their contributions. The study reveals emerging themes such as digital agriculture, climate resilience, sustainability, and innovation, pointing towards future research directions that could further empower women in agriculture. It calls for more inclusive research and policy-making to recognise and support women’s vital role in agriculture, advocating for a holistic approach to address women entrepreneurs’ challenges in different economic contexts. Through this analysis, the paper contributes to a deeper understanding of gender dynamics in agricultural entrepreneurship and suggests pathways for fostering more equitable and sustainable agricultural practices.
... Dentro do conjunto de metas específicas desse ODS há um forte direcionamento para ações voltadas especificamente às mulheres, dado que elas são elemento central para ações de combate à fome em harmonia com o meio ambiente, particularmente para famílias em situações de vulnerabilidade (OCDE, 2021). Ademais, há uma crescente literatura que destaca a maior preocupação das mulheres com as condições de vida de seus filhos e, por consequência, com as condições de vida e o futuro da sociedade em geral (CONTZEN e FORNEY, 2017;MATTE et al., 2021;GOMES et al., 2022), o que, segundo teorias feministas sobre o papel do gênero na agricultura, tenderia a levá-las a adotar práticas agrícolas sustentáveis em intensidade maior do que os homens (SACHS et al., 2016). ...
... An initial conclusion can be drawn here that a gender effect exists in the practice of sustainable agriculture, with French women farmers being more sensitive to environmental issues than their male counterparts. It is in line with findings outlined by existing articles studying women attitudes toward sustainable agriculture (Chiappe and Flora, 1998;Trauger, 2004;Karami and Mansoorabadi, 2008;Trauger et al., 2010;Pilgeram and Amos, 2015;Sachs et al., 2016;Leslie et al., 2019;Unay-Gailhard and Bojnec, 2021;Azima and Mundler, 2022). ...
... For example, in our study, women were more likely to perceive the challenge of time and labor than men. Indeed, it has been shown that women are more likely to retain domestic responsibilities in addition to on-farm labor (Allen & Sachs, 2007;Sachs et al., 2016) and that balancing these demanding responsibilities is a major stress for women farmers (Shisler & Sbicca, 2019). Currently, close to half of the beginning farmers in the U.S. are women (Fremstad & Paul, 2020;USDA NASS, 2019). ...
Beginning farmers are increasingly recognized as important agricultural actors in the United States. Efforts to help interested individuals enter agriculture have increased; however, there is still a substantial knowledge gap regarding beginning farmers’ characteristics, motivations to farm, challenges, and information and resource needs, particularly among those who operate small or medium-sized farms. In this research, we collected and analyzed survey data in Indiana to gain a better understanding of small- and medium-scale beginning farmers in the midwestern United States. We found that small- and medium-scale beginning farmers were motivated by their desire for a farming lifestyle and to support local food and agroecological farming systems on a landscape dominated by commodity crops. They relied substantially on off-farm income and faced related challenges including limited access to labor and difficulty balancing their on-farm and off-farm responsibilities. Finding effective marketing strategies also challenged this group of farmers, as they were not well-integrated into existing agricultural programs, and many had limited interactions with agricultural agencies and organizations. Instead, the majority of small- and medium-scale beginning farmers relied heavily on their own internet research and informal interactions with other farmers to learn and obtain help for their farms. Together, our results contribute to a better understanding of small- and medium-scale beginning farmers’ characteristics, motivations, and farming practices, as well as the challenges they face and the support they need to address these challenges. Because beginning farmers often differ from their more established counterparts who operate larger farms, the results of this research can be used to inform tailored agricultural programs and technical assistance that address small- and medium-scale beginning farmers’ specific needs and challenges in order to increase their likelihood of success to not only start but also sustain a small- or medium-scale farm over time.
... This has been attributed to their higher education attainment level(Balezentis et al., 2021).Even though we have still little knowledge about these young women farmers, recent findings give some insights on the switching career identities from being a "farmer's wife" to a farmer or a farm manager as more and more young women are entering agriculture by choice. Increasing numbers of young women farmers are constructing a modern farming identity, and ideological factors (e.g., pro-environmental attitudes)shape young women's involvement in sustainable farming(Černič Istenič, 2015; Cernič Istenic and Charatsari, 2017;Brandth, 2002;2021;Adro and Franco, 2020;Perez et al., 2020;Sachs et al., 2016;Carter, 2017;Tsiaousi and Partalidou, 2021).Policy initiatives under the European Green Deal are the main considerations of the European Commission for 2019-2024, and our short review notes that farms where young women farmers have decision-making power are more likely to respond to environmental policy targets (e.g., involvement in voluntary based agri-environmental programs). ...
Environmental concerns of young female farmers: a short literature review by ilkay Unay-Gailhard, Štefan Bojnec, and Tereza Pilarova
... This has been attributed to their higher education attainment level(Balezentis et al., 2021).Even though we have still little knowledge about these young women farmers, recent findings give some insights on the switching career identities from being a "farmer's wife" to a farmer or a farm manager as more and more young women are entering agriculture by choice. Increasing numbers of young women farmers are constructing a modern farming identity, and ideological factors (e.g., pro-environmental attitudes)shape young women's involvement in sustainable farming(Černič Istenič, 2015; Cernič Istenic and Charatsari, 2017;Brandth, 2002;2021;Adro and Franco, 2020;Perez et al., 2020;Sachs et al., 2016;Carter, 2017;Tsiaousi and Partalidou, 2021).Policy initiatives under the European Green Deal are the main considerations of the European Commission for 2019-2024, and our short review notes that farms where young women farmers have decision-making power are more likely to respond to environmental policy targets (e.g., involvement in voluntary based agri-environmental programs). ...
Rural areas are very complex zones of analysis, with many interacting components influencing
development patterns and socio-economic conditions. In turn, these lead
to desirable or non-desirable solutions. Given that many rural areas are struggling to
attract youth, the development of attractive and stimulating environments, as well as
a vast number of policy interventions, measures, and action plans were introduced to
mitigate and reverse negative trends therein. As identified in this report, diverse, multisectoral,
and multifunctional attributes of rural areas pose a significant challenge to
the creation of successful policy mechanisms. Therefore, it is necessary to map out
and address such attributes whilst raising awareness amongst stakeholders vis-à-vis
the pertinent factors, but also to address less prominent factors. In particular, interactions
amongst the factors influencing development patterns in some regions and
consequently influencing the success of the policy intervention. Some of the identified
concepts, theories, and business models are used here to raise awareness regarding
the necessity of changing perceptions towards rural areas as being “agricultural dominant”,
“isolated”, and “traditional” in terms of doing the business and policy interventions.
Such perceptions must be shifted towards the understanding that rural areas
were - and will be – important if not crucial in achieving sustainable development and
wellbeing for all.
... All the GeR participants interviewed mentioned how these virtual and in-person spaces support women in processing knowledge and information, including on environmental change, within their households and communities, and in sharing it beyond their localities. Our findings thus align with others from feminist sociology and geography that suggest that women in rural contexts specifically pursue women's cooperation and networks as new strategies to respond to the masculinization of rural settings and knowledge systems (e.g., Ní Fhlatharta & Farrell, 2017;Porto Castro et al., 2015;Sachs et al., 2016). ...
... Esta línea de fuga es un buen ejemplo de cómo las organizaciones de base pueden desempeñar un papel en la construcción de una economía local y un sistema alimentario alternativo. Como argumentan Sachs et al. (2016) en el contexto de Pensilvania, los esfuerzos realizados por las mujeres agricultoras están transformando el feminismo agrario al proporcionar una crítica y una alternativa al actual sistema de producción patriarcal. Los diferentes montajes de la cadena de valor ofrecerán a las mujeres lencas diferentes tipos de agencia. ...
La comunidad de la corporación internacional ha introducido el desarrollo de las cadenas de valor como un enfoque fundamental para lograr el desarrollo rural de forma eficiente. Este enfoque de " desarrollo de sistemas de mercado” se ha introducido ampliamente en el sector agrícola hondureño en un esfuerzo por integrar a los pequeños agricultores en las cadenas agrícolas de alto valor, como la hortícola. En este trabajo se ha elaborado un marco teórico crítico para analizar la retórica del desarrollo, que supone el uso de las cadenas de valor agrícolas como solución para la reducción de la pobreza rural en los países de bajos ingresos; y se utilizó un enfoque sociológico basado en el "pensamiento de ensamblaje". Este documento revela que un ensamblaje de cadenas de valor es relativamente complejo, con diversas relaciones, intereses y afectos; y que el enfoque descendente para impulsar mejoras en los pequeños agricultores y modernizar las cadenas de valor, deja poco margen de maniobra para la toma de decisiones y la autonomía de dichos productores. La hegemonía del conocimiento de los proyectos o de los expertos prevalece sobre todas las demás alternativas. Es necesario reflexionar sobre esta estrategia de desarrollo dominante e idear un modelo de desarrollo alternativo en el que la forma de producción de los pequeños agricultores pueda desempeñar un papel importante en la suficiente producción de alimentos locales, de forma cultural y ecológicamente adecuada.
This paper examines the role of geopolitics, including armed conflict, in family farming. Drawing on critical approaches to geopolitics in geography and anthropology, we situate the dynamics of family farming in the context of multiscalar struggles over territory and political sovereignty. Our historically and geographically situated approach shows how geopolitical positionality engenders vulnerabilities as well as political potential for alternative development by shaping labor and gender dynamics in farming households. Empirically, our research provides an illustrative example of the Baltic states, especially Latvia and Lithuania, which have been situated within geopolitical fault lines for centuries. Focusing on four different historical periods, we demonstrate how the dynamics of family farming in the Baltic states—characterized by the persistence of smallholder family farms and specific land ownership patterns with women owning almost half of farms—are partly a result of the multiscalar geopolitics manifesting itself in violent colonial histories. Our analysis also reveals how various geopolitical power interplays in borderlands can lead to devastating consequences, while simultaneously creating pathways for alternatives to the capital-intensive, environmentally destructive, and socially exploitative corporate food regime. Overall, our research underscores the complex ways in which geopolitical (in)security undergirds labor and gender in farming households.
This case study of the decline and revitalisation of transhumance in the Valles Occidentales challenges the dominant narrative that transhumance is a practice of the past without present-day relevance and viability. Drawing from interviews and participant observation with current and former transhumant herders in 2010 and 2018, this case illustrates that transhumance remains an important adaptation to take advantage of varying forage availability over space and time, using a production system that is more profitable than semi-extensive management with winter stable feeding. Social concerns, rising winter-forage costs and declining labour availability led most herders in the Valles to abandon transhumance in the 1980s. In the 2010s, increasing profitability, changing technology and increasing cooperation facilitated revitalisation, while shifting social norms and gender roles both facilitated and challenged continuity of transhumance. This case study suggests a number of interventions that could support revitalisation and continued viability of transhumance in other regions of Spain.
This article was published open access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ .
Infrastructure can make or break a farm’s economic viability. Farmers’ ownership and ability to invest in infrastructure is often arranged through the family farm model, where farmers are typically married to their business partners. In this paper, we analyze the implications of organizing infrastructure access through the family farm model. Through interviews with 66 farmers and key informants in New England, U.S., we identify a treadmill of infrastructure accumulation for farmers with family capital and a treadmill of high labor and low profitability for farmers without the family capital to acquire needed infrastructure. Infrastructure accumulation in the family farm model builds farms that are difficult to adapt to new systems and markets, challenging to retire from without selling to developers, and hard for beginning farmers to afford. The economic tendencies of organizing infrastructure through the family farm model can make it difficult for farmers of all social backgrounds to access farmland and infrastructure. Moreover, continued inequities in family wealth and wages, credit access, and social capital means that the family farm model systematically disadvantages farmers of color, LGBTQ + farmers, limited resource, and women farmers. We argue that infrastructure accumulation through the family farm model is a process that intensifies inequities in farm viability, exacerbates the challenges of transitioning farms to new farmers and ways of farming, and fuels land injustice.
There is a labor shortage in the turfgrass industry due to a decline in interested applicants, as well as a lack of gender diversity. Women make up roughly 2%–4% of the entire membership in the major professional associations for turfgrass managers in North America. There are many barriers that stand in the way of fixing the shortage and diversifying the workforce, but before interventions can be initiated, the current pathways of entry and sentiments held by those women in the industry must be investigated. A case study approach was used to assess the recruitment and retention of women in the golf course maintenance industry through a survey instrument administered to a sample of women who have volunteered on the golf course maintenance crew at the Women's United States Open Championships from 2021 to 2023. Results indicated a lack of exposure to the turfgrass industry for recruiting women, as well as insufficient support for mentorship and significant harassment events for those already in the industry. The current study offers a baseline to begin targeted work investigating specific challenges in the turfgrass industry that will improve the experience for women and promote future diversification and mentorship initiatives.
The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Sociology is a go-to resource for cutting-edge research in the field. This two-volume work covers the rich theoretic foundations of the sub-discipline, as well as novel approaches and emerging areas of research that add vitality and momentum to the discipline. Over the course of sixty chapters, the authors featured in this work reach new levels of theoretical depth, incorporating a global scope and diversity of cases. This book explores the broad scope of crucial disciplinary ideas and areas of research, extending its investigation to the trajectories of thought that led to their unfolding. This unique work serves as an invaluable tool for all those working in the nexus of environment and society.
The main aim of the research was to identify the differences in socio-demographic characteristics between managers of small farms in Poland who do and do not participate in short food supply chains (SFSCs). The analysis was based on the results of a survey conducted in 2023 among 199 respondents – farmers in Poland. Selected social and demographic variables were analysed. For the demographic ones, there were used: gender, age, education of the farm manager, and number of members on the farm. In turn, the level of social capital characterising farmers was described by participation in continuing education, participation in organizations, cooperatives, associations, clubs, etc., and participation in events, concerts, festivals, etc. A chi-square Pearson’s test of independence was used to compare two groups of farms in terms of the analysed variables. The strength of the relationships was measured using the V-Cramer convergence coefficient. Research revealed that among the social and demographic variables, gender and education were significant. Hence, among farms participating in the SFSCs, there were significantly more farms owned and managed by women and managers of those farms were better educated than managers of farms not participating in the SFSCs. Moreover higher level of social capital, particularly perceived through the involvement of farm owners or members of a household in lifelong education and membership in organisations, cooperatives, or associations was also a distinguishing feature of farms participating in the SFSCs.
Stakeholder adaptation is a critical strategy to overcome changing climate patterns worldwide. Still it relies on the speed and effectiveness of information flow to end-users. Research shows that the loss of information in several stages of its spread and learning from peers is more important than the knowledge circulated by extension services. Women’s participation and contribution are supportive and strategic, depending on the level of agreement and the interplay of trust variables within the network. In the arid Andes, agriculture is central and dependent on water management and macroeconomic conditions that shape market prospects, irrigation practices, and stakeholder behavior. Data were collected using the platform of a capacity-building program for organisations of water users in the Diamante and Atuel River basins in Mendoza, Argentina. Social Network Analysis (SNA) contributes to unveiling the cornerstones of information flow by identifying group structures, strong bonds, and bottlenecks in water management systems. In the first step, we evaluated the characteristics (density, centrality, average shortest path, and degree) of the pre-existing relationships and five sub-topic networks. Second, we compare networks containing pre-existing links only with those formed during the lecture. Emphasizing adaptation practices to cope with climate change impacts, the results provide valuable insights into the intricate interplay of gender dynamics, trust, expertise recognition, and discussion patterns within water and agricultural extension groups in Argentina. These insights highlight the ongoing need to promote gender equity, address biases in expertise recognition, and leverage trust for meaningful knowledge exchanges within evolving social contexts. It also reveals the alignment of Argentina’s gender performance with similar production setups in Southern America or the Global North, highlighting the universality of challenges and opportunities in fostering inclusive and equitable participation. Our findings indicate that each group within the two river basins exhibits numerous pre-existing links and tends to be less accessible to newcomers, resulting in a shorter average path. Thus, information can spread faster. Trust is an underlying facilitator for sensible topics and a catalyzer for communication.
Jewish Agrarian Movements (JAM hereafter) in North America express the many different shapes and iterations of Jewish farming on the continent, grounded in historical perspectives that influence current practices and activities. From within this diversity, common threads emerge with much to contribute to agrarian social movements and scholarship. Jewish values of returning (t’shuvah), releasing (shmitah), and repairing (tikkun), along with theories of doikayt (an anti-zionist movement around “hereness”) and radical diasporism, animate JAM’s critical engagement with agri-food systems. As researchers who have both studied and participated in Jewish agrarianism in a variety of U.S. and Canadian contexts, we solidify a series of themes and tensions that emerge from JAM: diaspora and indigeneity, modernity and tradition, Jewish agroecological knowledge production, and lived religion. We argue that, while JAM has not yet been examined thoroughly within critical food scholarship, it has the potential to contribute to broader debates and frameworks within sub-fields such as radical food geographies, critical agrarianism, and decoloniality. Without consideration of JAM as a part the study of food and agriculture, there are risks of marginalization of farmers, activists and researchers of Jewish identity.
There has been broad interest in the so-called rise of women farmers in United States (US) agriculture. Researchers have elucidated the diverse ways farmers ‘perform’ gender, while also examining how engaging in a masculine-coded industry like agriculture shapes individuals’ gendered identities as well as their social and mental wellbeing. While illuminating, this work is mostly focused on sustainable or direct-market farmers, with surprisingly little research examining women on conventional row crops operations. This paper works to fill this empirical gap and further theorize gender-agriculture intersections through analyzing interviews with Iowa women row-crop farmers to understand the ways they perceive their gendered identities, and how they see them shaping their farming experience and mental wellbeing. Deploying a conceptual understanding of gender as both discursive and embodied as well as relational and fluid, I find respondents see themselves operating in a somewhat liminal gender identity, where they feel adept at moving between masculinized spaces of agriculture and more feminized domains of homes and office jobs. Critically, while women rarely expressed stress about doing “masculine” coded agricultural labor, they had more complex feelings towards either disliking or imperfectly completing feminized care and reproductive labor. Younger women expressed particular ambivalence about assuming the identity of farmer while also fulfilling gendered norms around (heterosexual) marriage and childbearing. The liminality of women’s gender performance also cut both ways, and while they feel able to access different gendered spaces some feel they are not fully accepted in either. I conclude by reflecting on what these particular forms of gendered subjectivity might mean for women’s mental wellbeing and how agencies might better support gender equity in agriculture.
We examine the association between woman farmers and community well‐being using U.S. county‐level data. We address modeling uncertainty around three measures of community well‐being by using a spatial Bayesian model averaging approach and find that a higher share of farms operated or owned by women in a county is associated with higher rates of new business formation, longer life expectancies, and lower poverty rates. The results are consistent with a growing literature that finds women business owners approach their businesses more holistically, with positive community spillovers.
Successful farms—in the public imagination, agricultural policy, and more—tend to be highly profitable and operate at extremely large scales. Research has shown that women are less likely to operate these types of farms, possibly due to their preferences and lifestyle choices. There is evidence, however, that these gaps are additionally the result of differences in access to resources due to gender discrimination. Patterns of inequity in land inheritance and other resources limit women's farm size and choice of crops, and thus their opportunities to farm at larger, more profitable scales. Nonetheless, women farmers also employ creative strategies to make farming work for them. Our study uses 2017 Census of Agriculture data to compare women and men farmers at 7 different farm scales, revealing gendered strategies and comparing men and women farmers on equal footing. This presents a more nuanced picture of women's participation in farming at various scales. Overall, we find that within farm scales, women are often doing just as well as men—usually with fewer or different resources and approaches. Women's unbalanced representation at each farm scale, however, helps to explain why women are not always envisioned as “real farmers” in the popular conscience.
Despite ample scientific evidence proving climate change is occurring, climate change skepticism and denial remain heavily politicized and polarizing issues across the Appalachian region. Personal accounts can provide an accessible entry point for alleviating skepticism and contributing to an increased understanding of climate change and its local consequences. This exploratory study complements existing literature regarding climate change perception by providing an experiential and localized understanding and awareness of climate change from an often-marginalized group: rural, female farmers in Appalachian Kentucky. This study aims to examine the impact that personal experience has on Kentucky female farmers’ perception of climate change and their willingness to adopt adaptation and mitigation strategies. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted and coded using a hierarchical coding framework to inform this study. This research note highlights the observations and perspectives of six Appalachian farmers in Kentucky as they navigate farming during climate change.
Agritourism and direct-to-consumer sales are increasingly used as diversification strategies to generate additional farm revenue streams. Yet despite their growing importance, the impacts, interactions, and adoption of these strategies remain poorly understood. Here we use univariate and bivariate local Moran’s I statistics to identify agritourism and direct-to-consumer sales hotspots in the United States and a Seemingly-Unrelated-Regression Spatial Durbin Model to examine the association between agritourism and direct farm sales to consumers. We find that agritourism and direct sales reinforce each other within the same county but not consistently across neighboring counties.
Using Census of Agriculture (2017) data, we investigate the association between the principal operator's sexual orientation and farm profitability. Farms run by a male principal operator married to another male (MMM) have higher profits than farms run by a male principal operator married to a woman (MMW), a woman married to a man (WMM), and a woman married to another woman (WMW). Having two men on farm confers profit advantages. Compared with other marital combinations studied, MMM operate large‐scale farms, are more experienced farmers, and are more likely to engage in commodity agriculture. Findings suggest gender, not sexual orientation, is driving the observed profit gaps.
The population of women farm operators continues to increase in the U.S. That growth, however, is mediated by research showing that women in agriculture experience persistent barriers to equality with men. The Feminist Agriculture Food Theory (FAST) developed by Sach et al. (The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture, University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, (Sachs et al., The rise of women farmers and sustainable agriculture, University of Iowa Press, 2016) posits that in the face of these barriers, women farmers in the Northeast are engaging in six strategies to increase their success. These include (1) increasing gender equality on their farms, (2) asserting an identity as a farmer, (3) gaining greater access to resources, (4) shaping new food and farming systems, (5) negotiating roles in agricultural organizations, and (6) forming women-centered farming organizations. While researchers have applied FAST to Michigan, it has not been examined at a national level. In this paper, then, we use the 2017 Census of Agriculture Data to measure how women in agriculture in the U.S. are faring on each aspect of FAST we can measure (strategies 1–5). We compare women to men farmers across these FAST strategies and across three different farm types: Non-Organic Non-Value-Added Farms, Organic Farms, and Value-Added Farms. Our findings suggest for FAST strategies 1 and 2 there is an increase in equity and ability to identify as a farmer for women on organic and value-added farms. However, our findings also suggest that for FAST strategies that require more institutional and structural resources (I.e. strategies 3–5), inequities persist across farm types.
This paper presents a synthetic reading of the food regime and gender regime concepts to consider current trends in deagrarianization. Its goal is to articulate a research agenda for studying the food regime through the lens of gender and labor relations. Combining insights from feminist scholarship and early debates on family farming, it underscores the role of social reproduction in shaping agro-food systems. It reconsiders family, kinship, and strong ties as a form of social organization in capitalist production, emphasizes the significance of ideology on the household level, and underscores the role of temporalities of social and biological reproduction in conceptualizing the food regime evolution.
Farm operation is among the most gender‐unequal occupations in the U.S. Data from the 2017 U.S. Census of Agriculture reveals that average net farm income was 151% higher on farms with a male versus a female principal operator. Decomposition analysis indicates the gender gap is almost entirely explained by differences in endowments. Female farmers have lower farm profitability than their male counterparts because their operations use far less capital (land, machinery, and labor), they have less farming experience, and they engage in the production of commodities that are less profitable.
This chapter focuses on the incorporation of gender equality into the European Union’s (EU) good governance promotion through the provision of development aid to the Tanzanian agricultural sector. Drawing on the literature on norm contestation in the EU, gendering EU studies and postcolonialism, this chapter presents three critical arguments. First, it criticises the EU’s treatment of gender equality and good governance promotion as separate issues using separate instruments. We underline that gender equality is an essential component of good governance and the EU’s budgetary support programme in Africa should integrate gender equality in order to promote good governance effectively. Secondly, we show that while the EU has provided over €600 million to support Tanzanian development including its flagship agriculture programme ‘Agriconnect’ as a critical sector for development, it failed to integrate gender-responsive budgeting in its projects. Most of the projects it funds were not targeted at gender equality. Thirdly, we argue that such a gender-blind nature of the EU strategy leads not only to the EU’s failure to deliver its commitments to empower women farmers in Tanzania, but also in an environment of shrinking civic space and backsliding in gender equality, its continued funding amounts to supporting authoritarian tendencies in the country.KeywordsGender equalityIlliberalismAfricaDemocratic backslidingAgricultureTanzania
This study surveyed 258 organic grain farmers in Iowa in the U.S. Midwest. We identified seven areas of challenges related to organic grain farming adoption: organic farming operations, marketing, policy, finance, inputs and information, social pressures, and land tenure. Respondents reported three key areas where extension programs were needed: education, research, and technical services. Regarding outreach formats, organic farmers preferred events where peers were featured or provided leadership, such as field days, one-on-one mentor programs, and farmer-to-farmer workshops. Results provided empirical evidence to support theoretical discussions and policy implications on issues related to adoption of organic grain farming.
Research on women in U.S. agriculture highlights how, despite real challenges, women have made and continue to make spaces for themselves in this male-dominated profession. We argue that, partly due to data accessibility limitations, this work has tended to use white women’s experiences in agriculture as universal. Analyzing micro-data from the 2017 Census of Agriculture, this paper offers descriptive statistics about women and race in U.S. agriculture. We examine numerous characteristics of U.S. farms, including their spatial distribution, the average number of acres farmed, predominant crop types, and other characteristics to describe how white, Black, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander/Asian women farmers are faring. Our findings suggest significant differences in women’s farms by race. We argue that these are related to the history of forced and voluntary migration within the U.S. Our results indicate that understanding women’s experiences in farming requires understanding the impact of race and these broader historical patterns. Finally, because of these differences across races, we suggest that supporting “women in agriculture” may require tailored responses from agricultural policy and programming that addresses unique needs in specific communities.
This chapter explores how performance and performative events narrate the complexities of farmscapes through the words of farmers and in the repetitions of their farming tasks. The chapter looks at dramatised autobiography in James Rebanks and Chris Monks’ The Shepherd’s Life, variations of verbatim performance in Theatre Passe Muraille’s The Farm Show and Mary Swander’s Farmscape and Map of My Kingdom, storied walks around farms in Ffion Jones’ The Only Places We Ever Knew, Charlotte Hollins’ guided walk on Fordhall Farm and Sylvia Grace Borda’s Farm Tableaux Finland, and a performance-as-research project, Who’s Driving the Tractor?, that gave women in UK agriculture an opportunity to share their challenges and achievements in a performance-based form. The chapter argues that imparting this insider knowledge about farming can inform and engage the public and encourage food citizenship.
Agritourism is a growing area of the tourism sector with many positive social and economic benefits for farmers, their communities, and for tourists. While researchers have been studying the phenomenon for several decades, factors that lead to profitable outcomes for agritourism operators are still not well understood, hindering the effectiveness of agritourism development and the systems of support available to farmers. Using a survey of 1834 farms and ranches open to visitors in the United States, the goal of this study is to identify the factors that influence the profitability of agritourism operations. This study shows that several factors have positive associations with increased agritourism profitability, such as the number of years of experience of the operator, farm scale (acreage and total farm revenue), providing on-farm product sales, and offering events and entertainment. Off-farm product sales and being a female operator have a negative association with profitability in agritourism. We discuss the implications of our findings on agritourism operators, suggest their utility for tourism planning and rural community development professionals, and offer suggestions for future research.
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