As we mark the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Year of the Woman Farmer 2026, we are proud to launch “The Invisible Women Who Feed the World Campaign,” founded by Dr Cynthia C. Umezulike, through the Chisomejé Rural Women Rising Project (CRWRP).
Who feeds the world?
Not the corporations.
Not the global markets.
Rural women.
Yet millions of the women who grow, process, and sell the food that sustains our communities remain largely invisible in global food systems.
Across farms, rural markets, and agrifood supply chains, women work tirelessly to feed households, communities, and national economies. Yet they continue to face systemic barriers to land, finance, technology, and fair markets. Climate change is making these inequalities even more severe.
Drawing from field interviews with market women in West Africa, the campaign highlights the structural inequalities that keep rural women economically invisible despite their central role in feeding the world.
Through advocacy, storytelling, and community engagement, the campaign calls for urgent action to:
• Recognise and value rural women’s labour
• Expand access to finance, resources, and markets
• Support sustainable agrifood systems powered by clean energy and innovation
We invite governments, development partners, civil society organisations, and the private sector to join us in supporting the women who sustain our global food systems.
Because the women who feed the world must no longer be invisible.
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