Five EU-funded projects shed light on advancing gender equality in agriculture and rural areas
- Rural Pact
- Rural Revitalisation Platform
- Resilient rural areas
- Women
- Social inclusion
- Prosperous rural areas
- Agriculture and food
Gender equality in agriculture and rural areas is essential to promote social justice, food security and sustainable development. Explore the key findings and recommendations from five Horizon Europe projects in a policy brief from the European Commission.
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The policy brief spotlights the findings and recommendations of the FLIARA, GRASS CEILING, SWIFT, CODECS and QuantiFarm projects. These projects, funded under the Horizon Europe programme, address gender-related challenges in rural and agricultural contexts and provide solutions to help build an inclusive and resilient future.
The publication highlights that the EU still exhibits gender disparities in farm ownership, access to land and subsidies, training opportunities and representation in decision-making bodies.
To tackle these challenges, the policy brief calls for a participatory and transformative policy framework and outlines several policy recommendations:
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Mainstreaming gender equality and targeted support by adopting integrated gender-specific interventions, improving data collection and recognising women’s community-building work.
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Fostering innovation and leadership by supporting policies that promote multifunctional and locally led innovation, strengthening women’s participation in knowledge and innovation systems, and disseminating good practices on women-led innovation.
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Reforming policy and funding mechanisms by conducting systematic gender analysis and human rights impact assessments, strengthening social conditionality provisions (which link common agricultural policy payments to compliance with EU labour standards) and supporting smaller farms.
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Leveraging digitalisation and technologies for gender equality by prioritising women in technology development, fostering digital skills and promoting female entrepreneurship in agritech.
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Making agriculture and rural areas attractive for young women and gender-diverse people by providing support for rural women’s organisations, educational programmes and inclusive digital innovation, and designing policies that address structural inequalities.
Explore the latest Rural Pact resources on women, join the Community Group and discover how GRASS CEILING has empowered rural women innovators in a dedicated Rural Pact article.