Her Story

SOWing change

A steady seed supply for the Nepal mid-hills

In the western mid-hill districts of Nepal, women have joined forces to form seed-producer groups. These women of substance manage their multiple roles as housewives, mothers, and partners in farming and income generation. Read on.

Home among the heirlooms

Neneng Wadingan once left her hometown to seek greener pastures abroad, a dream shared by many Filipinos. But she found her true calling and economic success when she returned to tend her ancestors’ land and heirloom rice. Read on.

Creating an oasis with rice

The strong-spirited Mrs. Devi is known in the village for having a progressive outlook. She took on the role of the family breadwinner when her husband was stricken with hypertension and a heart problem, making him unable to work. Read on.

Women restore balance in rice fields with flowers

By planting flowers around their rice paddies, women farmers in Vietnam are saving 42% on insect control costs. The women, from Tien Giang Province, participated in training to learn how to keep their rice fields ecologically sound and balanced – by planting flowers around them, a practice called “ecological engineering.” Read on.

Women who moved mountains

When Ms. Hensley and Ms. Garcia started their project, they were told that they would fold up after 3 years. Now, they are in their ninth year of providing a sustainable livelihood to farmers in one of the most marginal rice ecosystems in the country. Read on.

Holding back flood, sweat, and tears

Swarna-Sub1 not only helps farmers in the low-lying areas of South Asia cope with floods. For women farmers, the flood-tolerant rice variety reduces their work burden and gives them more time for other activities. Read on.

A woman’s touch saves seeds

With Aroti’s new knowledge on producing good healthy seeds and improved seed storage, she decided to keep her own seeds this year and sold the extra seeds to her farmer-neighbors. The training she received enabled her family to become seed producers, which provides an extra and independent income. Read on.

overcoming Challenge

Women rising

The role of women in rice farming in Asia will continue to change as the out migration of males accelerates in the future. This warrants crafting policies and programs that will strengthen women’s access to resources and services. The providers of rice technologies, including equipment and machinery, need to be sensitized to women’s needs. Read on.

Women of war turn to rice in Burundi

Ex-combatant Burundi women are turning their own lives around—they just needed a hand to get started. Now, they are helping the country attain rice self-sufficiency and build a more stable future for all Burundians. Read on.

Breaking the barriers: from housewives to breadwinners

The success stories of Sukanti, Sanjukta, and Rabi have been contagious in the sense that other women in Khanijipur have been encouraged to take up farming and other activities to supplement their family income. Read on.

Breaking stereotypes

The crucial roles and the substantial support women provide to society have often not been recognized, much less appreciated. Social stereotypes have confined them in constricting environments that limit their growth and potential to contribute more to the development of their respective communities. Read on.

A widow’s story

Across a wide range of cultures, widows and unmarried women often make up the most marginalized group. Despite the loss of her social status and her reduced economic circumstances, one widow gains empowerment through modern farming technologies. Read on.

More than a woman

Rural women in Bangladesh are responsible for most of the hard work in and around the homestead, yet their work is seldom recognized as part of agriculture. But a woman from a small village in Bangladesh is proving that she is capable of contributing to household food security through improved farming practices. Read on.

Crying time

Nearly half of the women left behind cite their children’s education as the only real benefit of migration. Almost as many say they gain nothing. Read on.

Empowering communities

Women farmers in research and technology development

In spite of the significance of women as unpaid labor or as agricultural wage workers in rice production, postharvest, and processing, their contributions are often under-reported and have remained invisible in agricultural statistics. Consequently, the perception that ‘women are not farmers’ has led to the exclusion of women in agricultural research for- development programs. Read on.

Giving women a voice

Kamala passionately believes that women should have a say in research and development activities. We should include their voice: first, in our research work, and second, in the policymaking and decision-making processes, and we should give them access to resources such as information and communication technologies. Read on.

Women in motion

Stories that demonstrate how targeting women in rice research for development can reduce gender disparities in access to technology and training and improve the lives of poor women farmers. Read on.

The hand that rocks the thresher

Women without question play major and critical roles in the maintenance and success of rural livelihoods and household undertakings in their communities. Stereotypes, however, have downplayed their importance and put them in the shadows of the men. Read on.

Spreading the word

Sister Sajita is not a self-taught, solitary wanderer, but a participant in an international network of partnerships forged to disseminate the benefits of modern agricultural science among poor subsistence farmers. Read on.

Blazing the trail of women’s empowerment

We can no longer ignore the changing and potential roles of women farmers amidst the transformation in agriculture. The number of men migrating from rural to urban areas will continue to increase, leaving more women behind to manage their farms and households, and care for young children and the elderly. Read on.

Tribal women farmers find their voice

Women farmers of a migrant tribal community in India have found their place in the decision making processes of their community after a drought-resistant rice variety was introduced to their community. Read on.

Women play an important role in the global rice sector

The Global Rice Science Partnership‘s gender strategy aims to empower women and accelerate the delivery of its development objectives. The term “empowerment” integrates the strengthened role of women in the design, experimentation, and evaluation of agricultural research for development, as well as improved access to resources and control over output. Read on.