To coincide with International Women’s Day, the European Commission has launched the Women in Farming platform, a new initiative designed to empower women in farming and strengthen equal opportunities in this sector and rural communities. Announced in the Commission’s Vision for Agriculture and Food last year, it aims to help increase the number of women engaged in farming businesses, promote exchange and cooperation and foster the sharing of best practices. This launch is especially timely as the United Nations has declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Women play a crucial role in the European agriculture, often driving innovation, sustainability, and diversification in rural economies, yet they remain under-represented. At the moment, only 32% of farms in the EU are managed by women and only 3% of them are managed by women under 40. Women in farming continue to face structural barriers to access to land, finance and training and resources.
The new platform seeks to ensure that women’s contributions are recognised. It will support national mentoring schemes and sharing good practices across EU countries, including cross-border mentoring. It will encourage networking among women farmers, highlight successful projects that others can learn from, and feed practical, bottom-up experience into national and EU policymaking. By building a strong mentoring culture and network, the platform aims to empower women in agriculture, boost their confidence, and strengthen their ability to succeed within their national contexts and beyond.
In addition, the new platform will highlight model female farmers. Visibility changes mindsets and agriculture has long been seen as male dominated. Showcasing successful women challenges that stereotype and makes women’s leadership in farming visible and normal. When young women see others managing farms, innovating and leading rural businesses, it becomes easier to imagine themselves in those roles.
By recognising the role that women play in agriculture sector, we don’t just celebrate success; we help normalise women’s leadership and strengthen the future resilience of the agricultural sector.
It will also support the alignment of EU agricultural and rural development policies with the Union’s gender equality commitments, strengthen rural communities, and boost generational renewal.
In practical terms, the current common agricultural policy explicitly promotes women’s participation in farming and in the rural economy. Member States now have greater scope to introduce targeted measures – including enhanced financial support – for women farmers. At the same time, we are improving the collection of gender-disaggregated data, because better data means better, evidence-based policymaking. In 2024 alone, 55,300 young women received support to set up their farming businesses and benefit from additional income support.
Europe’s agricultural future must be inclusive, forward-looking and rooted in equal opportunity. Discover the Women in Farming Platform and how to apply.
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