Agricultural investments can raise women’s income and improve lives

Land-related investments in agriculture can greatly impact rural people’s lives. One of the main conclusions drawn from four FAO studies is that women’s livelihoods were improved when private investors took measures to increase women’s participation in agricultural land-related investments. The benefits extended beyond the rural women interviewed for the FAO studies in Ghana, Lao PDR, Tanzania and Zambia as they invested the additional income in their children’s health and education and food for the family. The women said they were playing a stronger role in household decision-making and community initiatives. FAO conducted the studies to analyze how land-related investments in agriculture affected women’s and men’s employment and earning opportunities as well as their access, control and use of land in three African countries and a fourth in southeast Asia.