Equity, Gender, Youth & Inclusion

Who gets to own land, access credit, attend training, or inherit a farm? In agriculture, these questions rarely have neutral answers. Women produce a large share of the world's food yet often cannot own the land they work. Young people leave farming because they see no future or foothold in it. Marginalised groups are routinely excluded from the resources and decisions that shape rural life. Equity, Gender, Youth & Inclusion is the session that confronts these imbalances directly and asks how agriculture can become fairer and more open.

These are not side issues to be addressed once the "real" agronomy is settled — they are central to whether agricultural progress reaches everyone or only a privileged few. A technology that ignores women's needs may go unused. A program that overlooks youth abandons agriculture's future. Advancing gender equity and social inclusion in agriculture means examining how access to land, finance, technology, and decision-making is distributed, and deliberately removing the barriers that lock people out. Inclusion is not charity; it is the condition for resilient, productive rural societies.

This session gathers gender and equity specialists, youth advocates, and inclusive-development researchers to put fairness at the heart of agricultural thinking. The programme covers gender roles and women's empowerment, youth engagement and generational renewal, equitable access to land and resources, inclusive participation in decision-making, and the social dimensions of agricultural development. Those attending this Agriculture Conference will explore how closing gender gaps, drawing young people back into farming, and including marginalised voices can unlock productivity, strengthen communities, and ensure that the benefits of agricultural change are shared broadly rather than captured narrowly.