Women in agriculture from both developed and developing countries say widespread gender discrimination persists and poses obstacles to their ability to help feed the world, according to a study from Corteva Agriscience, the agriculture division of DowDuPont. The study included 4,160 respondents from 17 countries on five continents. While most women said they were proud to be in agriculture, they said gender discrimination is widespread, ranging from 78 percent in India to 52 percent in the U.S. Almost 40 percent reported lower income than men and less access to financing. “We conducted this study to further understand the current status of women farmers around the world - from the largest farms in the most advanced economies to the smallest subsistence farms in the developing world - and to create a baseline from which we can measure progress going forward,” said Krysta Harden, Corteva’s vice president for external affairs and chief sustainability officer. The majority of respondents reported progress toward gender equality, but nearly three-quarters said it would take up to three decades to achieve full equality. Most said more training, education and moral support is needed to remove obstacles to equality. They also said the public’s awareness of gender discrimination in agriculture needs to be raised.
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