Women manage 19% of rural properties, but only control 8.5% of the area

Female participation in Brazilian agribusiness is growing consistently, but still faces structural barriers that limit its development. This is what the study "Women in Brazilian Agribusiness Value Chains", led by the IDH Foundation, within the scope of the AGRI3 Fund, says.

The diagnosis points out that salary disparity, restricted access to land and low representation in leadership positions and discussion spaces still impede female advancement in the area.

Currently, women manage approximately 30 million hectares, equivalent to 8.5% of the Brazilian rural area. Although they represent the management of 19% of the country's rural properties - 947 thousand establishments -, the majority of these properties (77.8%) have up to 20 hectares, showing a concentration in small areas, often linked to family farming or inherited.

Inequality is also reflected in income. Only 17.4% of women in the sector receive more than three minimum wages, while among men this percentage reaches 29.8%. The scenario contrasts with levels of education: even though they have, on average, higher qualifications, women continue to be concentrated in less valued and lower paid roles.

Another challenge is the low institutional representation. Only 8.6% of cooperative members are women, reducing their participation in decision-making and policy-making spaces for the sector. Furthermore, 31% of producers say they do not have access to technical assistance, a factor that compromises productivity, innovation and access to technologies.

Women in production chains

The report analyzes the role of women in six strategic production chains: soybeans, sugar cane, citrus, cocoa, coffee and livestock, the main areas of agribusiness in the country.

Although the female presence has grown in all sectors, livestock farming stands out as the main driver of this change: between 2006 and 2017, the number of women in charge of livestock farms jumped 55%, totaling 450.7 thousand managers. On these properties, they perform crucial technical functions, with 60% working in reproductive strategies and 56% in animal health management. Female ranchers leading the entire operation reached 33% of properties.

Performance in other sectors presents different realities of occupation and leadership:

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Cocoa: They manage 22% of the properties (with a higher incidence in Bahia than in Pará), but they control only 13% of the total area. The workforce is made up of 27% women, with the vast majority (93%) having family ties with the producer.

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Citrus: Female leadership reaches 18% of farms, while participation in the workforce is 23%, especially concentrated during harvest periods.

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Soy: They represent 17% of the workforce in primary production, a number that rises to 34.5% when agroservices are included. However, access to management still faces severe cultural barriers, including domestic pressure to abandon leadership positions.

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Coffee: Female management reaches only 13.2% of establishments, but generates a multiplier effect: on farms led by women, the workforce is more balanced, with 43% female presence, compared to just 24% on properties managed by men.

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Sugarcane: Registers the lowest rates in the survey, with just 8.8% participation in the workforce and 5.4% in leadership positions.

Female management drives innovation and sustainability
In addition to participation indicators, the study highlights differences in the form of management. Properties led by women tend to adopt practices more focused on social responsibility, team well-being and soil conservation, favoring more sustainable and resilient production models.

According to the report, the female presence contributes to strengthening innovation, increasing operational efficiency and expanding the adaptation capacity of production chains in the face of economic and climate challenges.

Barriers still limit progress
The diagnosis identifies six structural challenges for female inclusion in agribusiness. Among them are family succession, still marked by cultural norms that privilege male heirs; the difficulty in accessing land ownership, which restricts credit; wage inequality; overload with domestic activities; low participation in representative organizations and the occurrence of harassment and discrimination.

In the case of soybeans, for example, the proportion of men who earn more than three minimum wages is almost double that observed among women. In sugarcane, they occupy only 5.4% of leadership positions.

"Closing gender gaps in Brazilian agribusiness is both a moral imperative and a lever for economic and environmental resilience", says Luiz Almeida, responsible for the survey at the IDH Foundation.

Recommendations

The study concludes that increasing female participation in agribusiness is a strategy capable of increasing productivity, stimulating innovation and strengthening the competitiveness of the sector.

Among the main recommendations are expanding access to credit through mechanisms that do not depend exclusively on land ownership; encourage inclusive purchasing policies, prioritizing properties owned by women; develop technical training and leadership training programs adapted to the reality of rural producers; strengthen mentoring and exchange networks between women in the sector; implement salary transparency policies and audits to reduce pay inequalities; create safe channels for reporting moral and sexual harassment; and investing in support infrastructure, such as daycare centers and full-time schools, reducing the burden related to family care and expanding the conditions for women to remain in the rural job market.

Source: CNN