Women in farming in the EU

Women in EU agriculture

Women play a crucial role in European agriculture, driving innovation, sustainability and diversification in rural economies. With less than one-third of farms managed by women, women farmers remain under-represented as farm owners, managers and leaders.

The current common agricultural policy (CAP) explicitly promotes women’s participation in farming and in the rural economy. In their CAP Strategic Plans, EU countries have greater scope to introduce targeted measures including enhanced financial support for women farmers. 

The EU is strengthening women’s representation in leadership roles, for example in decision-making bodies within LEADER initiatives. In addition, the collection of gender-disaggregated data has been reinforced during the current programming period, as better data enables more effective evidence-based policymaking.

CAP support

In 2024 alone, 55,300 young women received support to set up their farming businesses and benefit from additional income support.

In their CAP Strategic Plans, some countries have launched incentives to provide higher support rates to young women farmers.

• Spain has included a top-up to the complementary income support to young farmers in the case of young women farmers.
• Ireland has provided a higher level of support for women in the on-farm capital investment scheme.

The CAP after 2027

In the proposal for the CAP post-2027 EU countries can make use of the flexibility offered by the new degressive area-based payment scheme (DABIS) to address the specific support needs of women in farming. In the future, such objective may also be achieved via dedicated annual payments. This does not exclude the possibility for EU countries to further prioritise support for women under other CAP support tools.

Hear from women farmers

Driving opportunities

The agri-food sector offers opportunities for women farmers, enabling them to innovate, diversify income sources, and actively participate in building more sustainable and resilient food sector.

Listen to

• Malva Myrehed - Swedish agronomy student
• Katharina Schobersberger - Austria’s next-generation farmer
• Aude Geiger - Finding passion in pastoral farming

Encouraging leadership

Women are increasingly stepping into roles as lead entrepreneurs. Taking ownership and driving decision-making, supports greater innovation and brings more equality in the sector.

Listen to

• Fabienne Dondas - Reviving family land through organic farming in Guadeloupe
• Martina Dal Grande - Viticulture farmer in Italy
• Anne-Claire Goyer - Perpetuating the family tradition

Strengthening community

With strong competencies across various areas of the agri-food sector, women play a vital role in fostering community development through collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and supporting local communities.

Listen to

• Cornelia Langreck - Farming, nature and public engagement
• Thien Uyen - Organic farmer in France
• Sandrine Faucou Bourne - Farmer running an organic grain farm in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region

Women in Farming Platform

To attract more women to farming and allow for exchange of experience, the European Commission outlined in its Vision for Agriculture and Food the creation of the Women in Farming Platform. Serving as a forum to discuss and exchange good practices, its members will be able to set change in motion to strengthen women's engagement and equal opportunities in agriculture.

Furthermore, the United Nations declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF 2026), prompting the take-up of activities to further put the spotlight on women involved in farming and undertaking initiatives in rural areas, to improve their status and help them tackle challenges.

Women farmers in numbers

Recognising women farmers in the EU is essential to ensure their efforts translate into equal access to resources, rights, and authority in decision-making.

Women contribute to farm operations through numerous roles and arrangements

• In 2023, women lead about 31% of EU farms, reflecting modest growth since 2010, with stability since 2020. This percentage varies across EU nations, from 6% in the Netherlands to 43% in Lithuania and 44% in Latvia.
• Women workers account for 29% of agricultural labour in annual work units (equivalent to the work of one person working full-time for one year) but rise to 37% when counted in person numbers, indicating the presence of part-time and seasonal work.
• The proportion of new farmers who are women reaches 38% in 2023. However, only 28% of these newcomers are young farmers.

Farms managed by women tend to be smaller in size both physically and economically, in all EU countries  

• Farms run by women in the EU are generally smaller, on average 9 hectares, compared to the 21 hectares for male-managed farms.
• Almost three quarters of farms run by women are below EUR 8 000 of standard output per year.
• The share of farms run by women decreases with the increase in economic size class, ranging from 38% in the smallest class, to 11% in the class above EUR 500 000.

Women managers possess lower levels of formal agricultural education than their male counterparts

• Only 19% of women farmers have received basic or full training.
• The share of women with formal education training has decreased between 2010 and 2020, which might indicate the need for targeted actions to promote training for women.
• A significantly smaller proportion of women participate in vocational training compared to men, with women's participation being roughly half that of men's.

Women in research and innovation projects

Horizon Europe is the EU’s flagship funding programme for research and innovation for the 2021-27 period. Insights and evidence from EU-funded research and innovation projects in areas such as agriculture, forestry and rural areas continuously inform decision-making processes and policy making to support farmers.

• FLIARA project
• SWIFT project
• GRASS Ceiling project

Documents