At CNA’s Rural Women’s Leadership Forum in Brasília, WFO Vice President Fiona Simson called for meaningful action to remove the barriers holding women farmers back.

On 12 August 2026, Vice President Fiona Simson represented the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) at the 3rd Rural Women’s Leadership Forum in Brasília. The Forum was hosted by the WFO member Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (CNA).

Organised by CNA’s National Commission of Women in Agriculture, the Forum brought together more than 300 rural women leaders from across Brazil, alongside representatives of FAO and other international organisations, to discuss ways to strengthen leadership, representation, and women’s role in agriculture.

Simson drew on her personal experience as a family farmer and agricultural leader to reflect on what farmers and rural communities can achieve when they work together. Her journey into agricultural advocacy began in 2008, when her community in the Liverpool Plains, New South Wales, took action to protect its farmland and water resources from proposed coal mining.

That experience led her into local government and later to leadership roles at NSW Farmers and the National Farmers’ Federation. She became the first woman to serve as President of both organisations before taking up her current role as WFO Vice President.

Along the way, Simson often found herself the only woman in the room — at farmers’ meetings, in local government and during policy discussions. This experience showed her how important visible role models are in encouraging other women to step forward: “You can’t be what you can’t see.”

©Wenderson Araujo/Trilux

In this International Year of the Woman Farmer, she stressed that greater visibility must lead to meaningful action. Its success, she argued, should not be measured by the number of events held, but by whether real progress is made in removing the barriers that continue to hold women farmers back.

Women account for approximately 38% of the global agricultural workforce, with an even higher share in many developing countries. Yet they continue to face inequalities in land ownership, access to finance and representation in agricultural leadership and decision-making.

Simson identified secure land rights, access to cooperatives and participation in decision-making as three areas where change is needed. Without secure rights over land, women farmers struggle to access credit and build viable farm businesses. Cooperatives and farmers’ organisations can open up access to markets, technology, information and finance, while giving farmers a stronger collective voice.

She also explained how women farmers contribute directly to WFO’s policy development. WFO policies are shaped and adopted by its members, with all six regional constituencies represented in its Working Groups and Committees. Its permanent Women’s Committee gives women farmers a direct voice in this process. CNA is also actively involved, including through its participation in WFO’s Climate Change and Trade Working Groups.

Turning to Brazil, Simson highlighted the country’s locally sourced school meal programmes as an example from which others can learn. By connecting public procurement with local agriculture, these programmes can create stable markets for farmers, strengthen rural economies and expand opportunities for women and young people.

She also called for better sex-disaggregated data on land ownership, access to credit and cooperative membership, together with practical support to help women participate fully in agriculture and its leadership.

“The measure of our success is not how many women speak at forums and conferences. It is how many have the power to manage their own farms, sit on organisational boards, chair working groups, lead cooperatives and negotiate prices,” Simson said.

Cover photo: ©Wenderson Araujo/Trilux