By Gail Wadsworth
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has named 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer:
“The Year will spotlight the essential roles women play across agrifood systems, from production to trade, while often going unrecognized. Women farmers are central to food security, nutrition and economic resilience. IYWF 2026 will raise awareness and promote actions to close the gender gaps and improve women’s livelihoods worldwide.”
Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Throughout human history, women have been intimately involved in farming which in modern times has increased their wealth and independence, reduced domestic violence and improved family and community food security.
In New Mexico, 15,014 of our farmers are women (41%), which is higher than the national average. Sixty-four percent of farms in New Mexico have women decision-makers.
Most farmers in the US and especially in New Mexico are aging and yet, women farmers tend to be young. In fact, 42% of all new and beginning farmers in New Mexico are women.
But, while women represent a sizable proportion of farmers in our state, they farm on smaller acreages, make less money and receive less support overall. Women farmers earn less than their male counterparts while facing barriers to credit access, technical assistance and land ownership.
Photo by Prakriti Khajuria (left) and Polina Kuzovkova (right) on Unsplash
Building social capital among women working in agriculture
This month, in celebration of the International Year of the Woman Farmer, New Mexico Healthy Soil Working Group is launching our Women in Agriculture Program. This program focuses on building social capital among women working in agriculture in the state of New Mexico. Social capital is a term used to describe the building of personal networks to develop trust and shared norms. Our goal is simply to enable emotional bonding among women farmers that can lead to concerted action to gain support for increased resources and opportunities to overcome systemic barriers.
Through listening sessions, interviews and meetings, we will facilitate shared conversations among women in agriculture which builds a network of mutual support and mentorship. Women participating in this network lead the way in discussions and decisions about steps needed to go forward. They work together to decide what challenges they need to address as a group.
Why is this important?
Groups around the world have been working for decades to build power among women in agriculture (and in general). The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota holds ongoing listening sessions for women. Their goal is “to better understand the lives of women and girls within communities, identify assets and barriers, and fund solutions.”
The New Hampshire Women’s Foundation engages “communities around current issues that state residents are facing. The purpose of our listening session model is to encourage open and honest discussion around various topics. This enables us to both educate and become educated about the numerous issues, and help to be better agents of change by listening to what people of New Hampshire want from our organization.”
This notion of listening to community members may sound like a simple exercise in engagement. However, it can be expanded upon to build social capital to the benefit of participants.
While the concept of social capital may be relatively new, the actual practice of it is not. Social capital has been considered essential for the sustainable development and management of natural resources for decades.
As long as there has been agriculture, people have engaged in collective action. The management of acequias in New Mexico is a great example of this. It is embedded in our culture. However, it is rare for support groups and agencies involved in agricultural development to acknowledge the importance of building and supporting social capital.
“Social capital is one of five key assets for sustainable livelihoods. … As social capital lowers the transaction costs of working together, it facilitates cooperation. People have the confidence to invest in collective activities, knowing that others will also do so. They are also less likely to engage in unfettered private actions with negative outcomes, such as resource degradation. Four features are important: relations of trust; reciprocity and exchanges; common rules, norms, and sanctions; and connectedness in networks and groups. (Jules Pretty, 2003)“
How do we propose to accomplish our goals?
Through the Women in Agriculture Program, NM Healthy Soil Working Group is creating a space for women to gather, surface joint challenges, explore shared experiences and build community to work toward identified collective action.
Our aim is to create a space both in real life and virtually where women in New Mexico who work on the land are able to gather to talk about the issues they face. This space will be facilitated by Gail Wadsworth and “owned” by the women who choose to participate.
Gail Wadsworth was the Executive Director of the California Institute for Rural Studies (CIRS) for 10 years. Gail has worked in industry, government, academic and non-profit sectors. She completed independent research on small-scale farming systems in Mexico, soil dynamics in lowland tropical agro-ecosystems, land degradation and social marginalization in upland tropical agro-ecosystems and soil and pesticide erosion in large-scale industrial agriculture. In addition to academic and field research, Gail has completed small community projects focused on activism for urban food justice and oral histories of farmers in California. She has Bachelor of Arts degrees in Anthropology and Geology and a Master of Science degree in International Agricultural Development.
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