In anticipation of International Women’s Day 2025, the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) has launched a campaign celebrating the remarkable achievements of women farmer leaders across the globe.

As in every year, on 8 March, the world will observe International Women’s Day.

This year’s theme, “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment,” underscores the urgent need to advance women’s rights, promote gender equality, and ensure no one is left behind.

When addressing women’s equal rights, power, and opportunities, it is indispensable to consider rural women and all women farmers, as they stand at the forefront of global economic and social development. Yet, their vital role often remains hidden, with a great imbalance between their invaluable contributions to family farming and the barriers they face in accessing resources, financing, services, and decision-making debates.

Ensuring women farmers’ empowerment and gender equality is crucial to shifting towards more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive food systems.

To mark this International Women’s Day, the WFO amplifies their voices and visibility to challenge the reality that their role and remarkable achievements often go unrecognised.

In this article, women farmer leaders from around the world share the most impactful milestones of their farming journey.

Inspiring Achievements from Women Farmers Across the Globe

Fiona Simson – WFO Vice President, Oceanian Constituency (Australia)

Fiona Simson is a farmer from the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales, Australia. Together with her husband and her family, she runs a mixed farming enterprise, including broad-acre farming and grass-fed cattle.

In 2023, after seven years as the first female President of the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF), a WFO Member, Fiona stepped down and joined the WFO Board of Directors as the Oceania representative. In 2024, she became the WFO Vice President.

Beyond her role at WFO, Fiona also chairs the Australian Commission for International Agricultural Research and serves as a member of the Australian Climate Change Authority.

Looking back on her journey, Fiona reflects on the pivotal role that advocacy has played in her farming career. For her, it’s always been about the recognition that good policy is essential to support sustainable agricultural land and business growth.

“An achievement of which I am very proud,” she says, “is that after beginning advocacy at the community farm level and working for a number of years in other farmer advocacy organisations I became the first female President of the National Farmers’ Federation in Australia with the responsibility of advocating for Australian farmers in Australia and right across the world.”

Kati Partanen – WFO Board Member, European Constituency (Finland)

Photo credit: ©Kati Partanen

Kati Partanen is a farmer from Finland, where her family farm produces grains, oilseeds, and peas while also maintaining forestry.

A dedicated advocate for agriculture, she has been a board member of the WFO Member organisation, Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK Finland), since 2011. From 2015 to 2022, she served as the Facilitator of the WFO Committee on Women. Since 2022, she has represented the European Constituency on the WFO Board of Directors and holds the position of WFO Treasurer, having been confirmed for a second term in 2024.

Apart from her advocacy work, Kati holds an M.Sc. in agricultural economics and currently teaches farm economics as a senior lecturer at Savonia University of Applied Sciences.

Reflecting on a key milestone in her advocacy for women farmers on the global stage, she highlights her role in facilitating the revision of the WFO Policy on Women in Agriculture. “In the paper, we highlight several recommendations,” Kati explains, “to ensure equal rights in agriculture. Equal rights are a must to achieve global food security and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Evangelista Chekera – Alumna of the WFO Gymnasium’s 3rd Edition; Founder of Passion Poultry; National Youth Vice Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union (Zimbabwe)

Photo credit: ©Evangelista Chekera

An alumna of the third edition of the WFO Gymnasium capacity-building program, Evangelista is deeply committed to empowering young farmers through training, mentoring, and advocacy.

When Evangelista first stepped into farming, she faced one of the common challenges that small-scale poultry producers in Zimbabwe were struggling with: high chick mortality rates, mainly due to inadequate brooding equipment and a lack of technical guidance.

“With the aim of reducing chick mortality rate by 95%, I came up with a chick brooding device that mimics the mother hen,” she shares, “Currently, this device is being used by small-scale poultry producers in Zimbabwe.”

The innovative brooding device consists of three key components:

• A brooder ring to keep chicks confined within a specific area, preventing them from straying from the heat source.
• A heater, powered by biomass briquettes—an environmentally-friendly alternative to charcoal—placed in the centre of the ring.
• A heat reflector, suspended above the heater, to regulate and evenly distribute warmth across the brooding area.

In 2019, Evangelista was granted a mini patent in the form of a utility model by the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO).

Chick brooding device – Photo credit: ©Evangelista Chekera

Meena Pokhrel – Member of the WFO Cooperatives Working Group; Acting General Manager of the Nepal Agricultural Cooperative Central Federation Ltd. (NACCFL) (Nepal)

Photo credit: ©IISD/ENB – Kiara Worth

Meena Pokhrel, the Acting General Manager at the WFO Member organisation, Nepal Agricultural Co-operative Central Federation Ltd. (NCCFL), a federation of small-scale farmers’ cooperatives. She is also a founder member of the Himalayan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (HICAST).

With over two decades in agriculture, Meena has been a strong advocate for climate action, biodiversity conservation, and the development of inclusive value chains. Throughout her advocacy, her focus has remained on empowering farmers, particularly women, to build a more resilient and sustainable future.

As Meena explains: “My journey from a researcher to leading national and international projects has been driven by one belief: sustainable development is only possible when we include and uplift women.”

Meena’s dedication to equity in policy and practice has led her to collaborate with United Nations agencies such as The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Meena continues to advocate for a future where women don’t just participate in agriculture and sustainability but lead these efforts. “Together, let’s build a future where women are not just participants, but leading in agriculture, climate action, and sustainable development.”

Amplifying Women’s Voices for a Just and Sustainable Future

These powerful testimonies from women farmers highlight their key role as agricultural leaders, innovators, passionate advocates, and drivers of transformative change in agriculture.

Their remarkable achievements remind us once more of the importance of empowering women farmers and amplifying their voices—an absolute precondition for achieving an equal and sustainable future in agriculture and across the globe.

Watch the video to hear directly from the women farmers and learn from their inspiring experiences.